Sometimes We Get Burned-Columbia Basin Trust

"Sometimes we get burned"

That comes from the Columbia Basin Trust gal (no longer with CBT but works in Nelson)  who put on the workshop    "How to apply for grants."

The engineer who filled out the application for the LiveSmart BC grant a couple years ago for $25,000 had just taken the workshop.   I have the FOI.   It was submitted at 3:57PM friday, it closed at 4pm.  Although the applicant was to have a track record of business success for over 2 years, they had one year?  The engineers office was in the building and his business installed the system on that roof.  The application was a work of art,  beautiful specification sheets for product, promises, who wouldn't give that money!  One cannot expect the grantors to be experts, and after all this was signed and submitted by a PEng.


The criteria, the project was to be a benefit to the community, replicable by all, and highly visible to the public.

The application said it would provide live streaming internet data so we could all see how the power was being made. After one year if all criteria were met the equipment belonged to the applicant.

I was in contact with LiveSmart and the Ministry of Environment pointing out that none of the criteria was met and the business was going broke, they were selling the equipment and keeping our money.

That business went broke, the building was purchased by technical people, involved in the city broadband initiative, they know the value of solar power.   The owner was offered the system at fire sale price, he told them to take it off his building.   Thats the story of the last solar demonstration system grant picking our pockets.  The grant recipient sold it and kept the money.

LiveSmartBC did nothing, they wanted to hide, it was a mistake and they didn't want it known.   When I contacted the Columbia Basin trust gal, pointing out what this grant workshop had done in this instance, she made the statement "sometimes we get burned".    This was one letter to the editor I wrote. .Energy Heroes to Energy Zeroes

Now the city is looking for a $60,000 grant from CBT for their community solar garden. If that comes through I would like it applied to the cost of the solar project to mitigate the costs to the rest of us ratepayers whose pockets are being picked once again for this "greenwashing".

At the moment it appears to be about reducing the buy in costs for those opting in.  When the project was first approved by city council it was to be only $25,000 from Nelson hydro ratepayers to get the project started and all future funding from those opting in, this was also submitted to the BCUC rate review, I have their letter from my complaint stating the same, only $25,000 from NH.

Nelson has already seen a SolarBC grant for a solar demonstration system,  the LiveSmartBC grant for the now missing solar system, the solar panel on the skatepark washroom in the trees, all adding up to over $50,000.   Now another possible $60,000 grant from CBT,  plus all ratepayers subsidizing this by paying full retail instead of making a profit from our 2c/kWh clean green water power.  And all future costs borne by Nelson hydro, if you are a Nelson hydro customer not living in the city, your pocket is being picked to!

 I have asked Mr. Love manager of Nelson hydro more than once,  "under whose authority and when did it change to all Nelson hydro customers paying?"   He won't answer.  At the spring Hydro budget meeting I complained to the mayor she said I wasn't going to pay anything.

There is no such thing as a "business case" for this solar garden.

If CBT offers this grant for $60,000, I am asking that it be used to mitigate the costs to all nelson hydro ratepayers, not the few buying in to the project.   I think we have seen enough money wasted in Nelson picking our pockets, we don't need another solar power demonstration system.

A municipal utility is supposed to do what is good for ALL ratepayers. I don't think this project fits that criteria..  I think CBT grants also must benefit the community, that will only happen if it is used to fund the project so my pocket and other ratepayers pockets aren't being picked, not to reduce the buy in costs for those who think this is green energy.

Simplified Nelson Hydro Economics

         
It seems Nelson energy policy goes back to the mayor having met Nelson's own climate scientist.  Didn't know we had one did you, mayor Kozak appears to have become a disciple.  It was he who introduced the mayor to his colleagues in Europe at the ALP-S energy institute.  This resulted in a trip by our ex mayor, mayor Kozak, Alex Love of Nelson hydro and others to Europe.   They came back with visions of solar panels dancing in their heads.  

Now we all know Germany has become the "golden child" in the world for solar power.  google
'german solar failure'.   Its turning out to be the biggest mistake they have made.

The european trip resulted in those people coming to Nelson to "partner" in some climate initiatives.

The mayor said she was going to write a report about the trip, I have never seen it, I did ask the mayor twice for this, no reply.

Mr. Love has returned again to Europe for unknown to me reasons for city business.


There is a Municipal charter, a mandate for municipal utilities like Nelson hydro, to do what is best for
the residents.   Do trips to Europe need to be made?


The APEGBC have a code of ethics,  this project looks like its stepping ALL over the above.


I have asked Mr. Love many questions, he won't answer, he has blocked my emails to all staff his consultant whom I have sent information to, saying I am wasting his and his staffs time.

The above sunchart shows sun position for Nelson annually.  See the chart upper right.
Notice line 7, minimal sunhours and low angle sun for December, mother nature controls this, solar when we need it in winter is next to useless.   The only power in the sun is above line 4, about April through August, when our dam makes all our own power,  and has excess to sell that isn't always sold.   If we are letting clean green water just flow over the dam unused, wouldn't that make this solar power worthless?


Apparently we can buy some "Bullfrog" power.  They sell green power, they gave Nelson either $15 or $25,000 for the rights to sell our 61MWh(unlikely) to other "green" people for a premium so they can
feel green.   It has been written, that is like selling tap water for bottled water prices.  Problem is our green solar power won't even likely enter the power grid, its phoney non existant green power!

Bullfrog power,  a Bay Street boys scheme playing the stupid people, not unlike those phoney charities with the sound alike names of legitimate charities.  Except 90% goes to the execs and maybe 10% to the charity.

Can I buy some dirty cheap power somewhere?  Made  from burning painted wood or tires and other contaminants.  I can't afford this greenwashing.

AM I THE ONLY ONE?

                                                     Nelson Hydro economics 101!!!!

The Nelson city website for the solar garden states there is only one person against the project,  when I spoke with Mr. Love in October he again told me I was the only person.  Its because I worked with solar power for decades, it was competitive with flying fuel by helicopter to remote generators.   Thats still the only place it makes economic sense at our latitude and annual sunhours.  I know the economics.
    Nelson hydro dam makes power for 2c/kwh and sells for 10c/kWh so lets send 2c/kWh wholesale clean green water over the dam, forgo the 500% profit it brings to the city  for 50c/kWh feel good green solar power,  seems to make sense to our highest paid man in the city, manager of Nelson Hydro, Alex Love.  At the spring hydro budget meeting Mr. Love bragged Nelson hydro had exceeded 90GWh record power for 3 of the previous 5 years.  But excess power couldn't be sold, you can click on the link below and read the full article.

The 90 gigawatt hours the plant produced was the most in its 107-year history and resulted in a $500,000 windfall for the company, which is normally under contract to sell surplus power to BC Hydro Hydro at a fixed rate. Last year, however, BC Hydro also had a surplus of power and didn’t need any more

Last year Nelson’s plant ran at full capacity from the last week in April until the first week in August.  But could NOT sell any surplus to BC HYDRO!!!

The above  "it resulted in a $500,000 windfall for Nelson Hydro, however BC Hydro didn't  buy it?"     Not sure what to think, did we make $500,000 or pretend we did?  A lot like the solar garden,  pretending to be green.

The consulting engineers  report below shows during that same time, April through August, more than 80% of annual solar power is made.  Are we wasting water over the dam that brings huge profit to the city for this expensive  "green" solar power?  Sure looks like it to me!

For the remaining 7 months from the consultants report, the total solar power earned is about 13,000kWh,  the average canadian home uses 11,000kWh/year.   The solar garden makes little more than enough power for ONE average home for those 7 months!,? 


And the financial calculations are based on the Simulated computer (fantasy) annual power of 61MWh,  Why not use the computer fantasy numbers no one will ever know....


                                          THIS IS FROM THE CONSULTANTS REPORT
        note in the Star article  top line the cost at that time was $293,000, now its $186,000, :) :)

The project was pitched to city council as only $25,000 from Nelson hydro to get the project started and the remainder funded by those opting in, now we are all having our pocket picked.

I have asked Mr. Love twice why has this changed, he will not answer my questions, in fact he blocked all my emails to his staff saying I was wasting their and his time.
I also made a written request to appear before city council, that was turned down.


If you read the city website its saying there is only one person against the project, that would be me, Mr. Love clearly knows my position.  

Its time for everyone to understand what is happening here, our (your) pocket will be picked for this greenwashing project.   We have already had it picked for $50,000 in solar demonstration systems grants.

I have asked Mr. Love why all Nelson hydro customers are subsidizing this project, since he (you and I are) is paying full retail for that solar power.  No answer.

T
I asked Mr. Love under whose authority and why did this change?(I asked twice, city council received a copy of my requests)   He won't answer. Nobody answered.  I asked the mayor for the report she said she was writing after her, and Mr. Love and others went to Europe's ALPs energy institute and came back with visions of solar panels for Nelson.
I have requested that  twice and received nothing.  So much for open transparent government.

This all seems to have started when our mayor met our own Dr. of climate change I didn't know we had one,  but he introduced the mayor to his friends in Austria, they have also come here to talk about partnering in some climate initiatives of some sort.

Nakusp installed 50kW microhydro on their water intake, power for 30-40 homes,   Slocan city is pursuing microhydro to mitigate the lost income from their sawmill closure.

Nelson has a completed engineering report on the 5 mile water intake for microhydro showing it would pay for all necessary upgrades and make power for our grandchildrens children.

Whats going on with this solar garden?  Who is doing this to us?  Even using the fantasy figures for power made it won't make enough power for 5 average canadian homes annually.

My position with Mr. Love has always been the same, I an an unwilling participant.

Am I the only one???   

Statements from the contractor delivering the program she says

"everyone opting in will receive a credit year round on their hydro bill" (from you and I)
I told them long ago I thought that was deceptive, it didn't change.

"its not about a pressing need for power its about starting a movement" (I know what kind of movement I am thinking of), she said it would be power parity in 7 years and payback in 10, I asked for the calculations, no reply.

"A lot of other cities are watching Nelson's project"  who are they?

"we could offer some low interest financing to those who can't afford to participate"
I bet the line up of struggling single parent families will be around the block...
keep this up that might be half this city, its becoming unaffordable to all of us.

"some of our power comes from coal"  where and when? 

The plan is to double the solar garden to a 100kW project.........

Get the movement started, start building even more solar gardens and BC Hydro or maybe Fortis will be looking at that wasted water running over the dam and go after that extra water licence water.....after all they aren't stupid, and watching green clean water running over the dam making no power.....they won't let that keep happening.     

In December the data shows it makes the same power our dam makes for $16.

3 tons of solar panels, big as a soccer field, 3600 sqft.  covered in snow, will we send the electrical crew out in December every time it snows to hopefully make that $16?

NET METERING

                                                        NET METERING           

The concept is your own solar power system puts excess power into the grid when you make it and you use grid power when you need it.   The grid becomes your power bank, your battery.  At the end of the year you pay the Net difference.  Let me assure you no one is making money with  a solar power system, on the contrary they have some of the most expensive power you can imagine.  Subsidized by everyone else because its paid for at full retail.

The problem in Nelson with our own clean green hydro dam making the cheapest and cleanest power for 2c and bringing the city a profit for 10c paying our bills, solar has no value.

What really happens is we lose the profit from selling 2c power for 10 cents and let clean green water power flow over the dam while we subsidize your fantasy paying full retail for your "green" power.

Nelson hydro sells excess power if there is a buyer.  During spring freshet through high lake levels in August when our dam makes its best power, so does everyone else.   Spot wholesale prices on the Northwest Pacific grid probably less than a penny.   NH sells to BCHydro,  getting .07c/kWh.

On a sunny summer day from about 11 till 3 when solar power is made nobody needs it.

In fact Nelson might purchase excess power from Fortis on summer nights, or certainly winter when no solar power worth mentioning is made.   The Nelson solar garden from September through March might make enough power for 2 average homes.   Less than half a home from November till February.

10 Tons of solar panels plus all supporting structure covering a soccer field, costing likely $300,000 or more.

Looks like $150,000 per home, power for maybe 20 years.  Nakusp just put a microhydro system on their city water intake for $150,000,  making power for 30 to 40 homes for the next century or more.

GE Energy Financial Services and Nelson

                       GE Energy Financial Services, Stamford Connecticut

Who are they you ask?   The wolves that see an opportunity our political sheep offer up.

Political policies leaving us exposed to exploitation.   Part of the Gordon Campbell government gold rush on our rivers for Run Of River hydro projects.  They make most of their power during spring runoff when BC Hydro doesn't need it, but are required to pay full retail so these projects will have a business case and get paid off in a reasonable time.  We give our resources away all the time.

Nestle’s bottles millions of gallons of BC water for almost free.  GE Energy, one of many, have our water power and we are pay off the project and receive nothing.

Plutonic Power, a run of river hydroelectric project on Toba River on Bute Inlet. 

Plutonic Power CEO denies donating to the liberal party then changes his story

This started with Gordon Campbells government  who wanted BC to achieve total green by 2016.  We were already green and exporting power. 

Giveaway of our precious assets 

http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/Plutonic-Power-Announces-7035-Million-Bought-Deal-1059298.htm

Plutonic Power's vision is to provide leadership and create a legacy through the development of renewable, reliable, clean energy projects. Its proposed Green Power Corridor™, comprised of 42 generation facilities (including the 2 facilities being constructed by the Toba Montrose General Partnership), could have the capacity to meet the annual energy needs of about 660,000 homes.

The B.C. government started this private power gold rush as being necessary to achieve electricity ”˜self-sufficiency’. But British Columbia has been a net exporter of electricity for  7 of the last 11 years. And power from run-of-the-river projects will only be reliable and plentiful during the spring freshet. Something other than self-sufficiency must be the real objective—something like the profit potential of private electricity exports to the U.S.

http://www.straight.com/article-220116/maude-barlow-runofriver-projects-not-green-not-public-not-us

Plutonic changed the name to Alterra,   it now belongs to GE Energy Financial Services of Stamford, Connecticut.  BC Hydro must buy all their  power for 3 times their what their dams make power and let that water just spill down the river.  WE  pay for the project, and GE Financial owns it in 20 years and have the bottled water rights.

Seems to me our government isn’t our friend they are our enemy.

r.

How to Save Yourself from Nelson Hydro and City Council

                                             How to Save Yourself From City Council

Since Mr. Love manager of Nelson Hydro is presenting the Nelson Community Solar Garden project and all Nelson hydro customers will be paying for it, one has to do something to continue to live in what is becoming unaffordable Nelson.  Nelson makes money by selling green clean water power, why would we shoot ourselves in the foot and put in expensive solar that will cost 20 times more and lose the profit from the hydro sales to feel green?  This is coming if city council approves it.  After the mayor and others and Mr. Love went to some Austrian Energy institute, they came back with the vision of solar panels for Nelson.

Here is my answer, its called picohydro (even smaller than microhydro).  See my system below.

The beauty of water power is it works 24/7/365,  or 8760 hours a year.  This little $500 system makes more power from November to February  than the city solar garden can make for $400,000.

For $500 or less you can have your own picohydro this one makes about 400 watts.

Thats 9.6kWh /day = 3600kWh/yr.  At retail of 12c/kWh that I pay it takes $72 off my bimonthly electric bill.    I suspect most reading this would be happy to take $72 off their electric bill. 

This picohydro system for $500 makes more power from November through February than the $400,000++ solar garden, simply because it works all the time.   Our water system is gravity, my lights can be on when city power is off.

I figure I will put about 144,000 gallons of treated city water down the drain monthly.  I wonder how much a gallon of treated city water costs?

Now if Nelson was smart and put their already designed microhydro plant in front of the reservoir like Nakusp has done, we would all benefit and have power in future for a century or more at night, in winter a legacy for our grandchildren.  Slocan City is pursuing microhydro.   

Instead, Nelson wants solar panels in the snow for some feel good green misinformed agenda?


Our Nelson hydro manager and engineer came to us from Yukon power, they were putting electric heat tapes on their wind turbine blades because of rime icing,  when this didn't work, they put heat on the blade tips too.   There wasn't enough windpower to run the heat tapes, maybe we can get some cheap heat tapes for our solar panels from Yukon power, the wind turbines no longer function, several million dollars later.  The Nelson dam should easily power the heat tapes, hardly put a dent in the Millions a year it earns for us.
We can all feel good about the solar panels that might make enough power for 4 average homes, for what I estimate to be a $400,000 feel good project.  As Mr. Love told me it will add pennies to my power bill.  Wish I had BC Hydro,  my bill would be 34% lower than it is now from Nelson hydro.

My system above has about the same chance of  making the power I suggest as the 61MWh the solar garden is estimated to earn.   How much is 61MWh?  The average canadian home by BC Hydro stats and others uses 11,00kWh annually.  61,000kWh/11,000kWh = 5.5 homes, but that is pie in the sky everything working perfectly number that is unsupportable by years of data I have already given Mr. Love and his consulting engineer.  Real known data shows maybe 4 average homes. Could I be wrong?  I have the years of experience and real data, they have a computer simulated model.  Does it matter,  4 homes vs 5.5 homes for  $400,000.?

Going Green for those people Mr. Love tells me are asking for it, looks like we will all be bleeding RED.

Lets Get our Feet Back on the Ground from this Fantasy

                                           

Back to basics.  Solar power is a simple concept, it only works when the sun shines and very little in weak winter sun.  If future projections for demand and costs for electricity are to be met, solar will not help us, where will we get that future power from?  We have clean green cheap hydro, leave solar to those where the sun really does shine, so far its not working anywhere in the world without huge subsidy.

 Just google  "solar failure"   Spain's solar failure  or Germany's solar failure  or Ontario solar failure  soon it might be Nelson's solar failure if city council doesn't start making business decisions.



This solar garden will make enough power for 3-4 homes annually,  if you use the consultants computer model it says 5-6 homes, who cares, for $400,000 or more its useless power and every kilowatt is costing all of us for this misinformed and misguided project.

City council just visited Nakusp’s 50 kW microhydro system on their city water intake that cost $150,000, they claim enough power for 30 homes, 50 homes if you use Mr. Loves statistic.  This will work for their grandchildrens children, our solar panels will be junk in 25 years or less, might we do the right thing then? We have identified microhydro sites, one being an engineers completed study on the 5 mile water intake showing it would not only pay for that needed infrastructure upgrade but make money for the next century.

While Nakusp have a legacy for their grandchildrens children, we will have solar panels, we will still buy excess power from whomever at whatever price they wish to charge in the future when we consume the most in winter    Slocan City is pursuing microhydro to mitigate their lost income from the sawmill closure. 

Might we buy power from them in future?  We need power at night, at suppertime, in winter, they will have power, we won't.  The mayor said our hydro dam is our golden goose, why are we killing it with solar?

                    Solar panels age, have a life expectancy of 20 or 25 years and become toxic waste.

                                                      NELSON SOLAR GARDEN 2025

The future lies with those who can make power in the dark and long cold winters, so they can sell it to those who wasted their money on solar panels, who needs power on hot summer afternoons?  Solar in Nelson is only good for 10% of the time almost all of it made midday on hot summer sunny days, otherwise nothing.
Do we need to keep the lights on then?  We need this when its dark and we are freezing.

Will this city start making business decisions?

Its a small town, I know the contractor, Alex Love is the highest paid person in the city.

I find it obnoxious when the statement is made "we would like to allow charities and low income people to be able to participate by offering low or no interest loans so they can buy in"

Patronizingly obnoxious.   Would they know what its like to try and  live on minimal incomes hoping to buy the bare necessities of life.  

I am sure they will be lining up for your solar panel sales.!