||| FROM KRISTA BOUCHEY for ORCAS POWER & LIGHT CO-OP |||
Earlier this year OPALCO requested changes to the Comprehensive Plan regarding land use designations and now those changes are being reviewed by the San Juan County Planning Commission. Members can submit comments to the Planning Commission regarding OPALCO’s requests.
The energy world is changing dramatically due to climate impacts and the transition toward renewable power. The goal of the state and nation is to transition away from fossil fuels and heat our homes and fuel our vehicles using electricity. This lofty goal is proving to be highly challenging for the islands and communities across the nation.
The dilemma we are facing is to figure out how to satisfy increased demand for electricity while the supply of carbon-free firm power shrinks. As more coal plants shut down and are replaced with intermittent resources (solar and wind), energy blackouts are predicted.
Given our remote location, the best bet for clean and affordable power is to build renewable generation projects locally. In order to do this, OPALCO needs STRONG community support and to change antiquated land use designations that date back to a time when diesel generators were the option.
The first change OPALCO requested is to add a new land use to the “Agricultural” and “Forestry Use” designations to include “Agri-Solar generation”. This would encourage increased local renewable energy and diversify farm income to improve the stressed economics of local food productions. It would allow permitting for agri-solar generation in rural areas & AG Resource Lands and it would allow conditional use in Forest Resource Lands.
The second request is to add a land use to “Utilities Uses” and would be called “Utility Renewable power-generation facilities” for modern renewable energy systems that are clean and quiet, unlike legacy non-renewable power generation systems that may be deployed in the code’s current “Commercial power-generation facilities.” The current land use designations exclude utility scale solar projects from 63% of land in San Juan County – which makes agricultural dedicated land as one of the only options for these projects. It would allow for provisional/conditional use permitting for utility renewable-power generation facilities in all rural designated areas and “AG Resource lands,” and conditional use in “Forest Resource Lands”.
On June 21 st and continuing to July 19, the San Juan County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing about the requests. These two requests are critical for OPALCO to be able to install utility scale renewable energy sites which will support everyone in the community as the energy world changes. Having local renewable generation is going to be critical as the mainland power sources become increasingly unreliable.
With increasing amounts of grant opportunities it is important for OPALCO to have permitting certainty to meet the grant requirements and access these funds. Members can make public comment to the Planning Commission in support of more renewable energy in the islands. Please send all public comments to brookes@sanjuancountywa.gov by July 18. Comments should refer directly to one or more 2024 Docket requests.
For more information on the 2024 Annual Docket Staff Report and Public Hearing FIND IT HERE.
Orcas Power & Light Cooperative (OPALCO) is our member-owned cooperative electric utility, serving more than 11,400 members on 20 islands in San Juan County. OPALCO provides electricity that is 97% greenhouse-gas free and is generated predominantly by hydroelectric plants. OPALCO was founded in 1937.
This is an important issue. As a community, we are going to face major electric power supply issues in the coming years. Loads are growing and new generation is not keeping up. One way OPALCO (for our benefit) can partial address this problem is by promoting renewable generation here on our islands. We are going to need many community solar project (like Bailer Hill) in the next few years. Our land use laws need to recognize this NOW.
What happens with those all electric domiciles in a foot of snow in a 20 hour or 3 day power outage when there is no backup heat? Someone please give an answer, other than that we can trudge through the snow with a freezing pet in a carrier to the fire station with a bunch of other caged animals and people squashed together like sardines. I do not think all electrification is the end all be all, or even a great idea.
I can cite information on smart meters catching fire and lithium ion batteries causing fires, even explosions. It seems the green new deal is not so green when you look into this fixation that it will solve all our problems. Meanwhile, no one talks about incentivizing less consumption or energy grants to make homes more energy efficient. So many things that have been tried have their dark sides, but those are swept under the rug. We need all the facts, pro and con. Not just pushing for another monocropped idea that this one thing will solve all our climate and energy issues.
The Bailer Hill project is needed – but not in THAT location. What happens when they chip seal the roads and gravel is flying everywhere? And never should be build any huge project at the expense of even one more forested wetland – not ever.
Our land use laws need to recognize and enforce this fact NOW. Yet they haven’t – instead, they weakened environmental protections and turned the other way from all the clearcutting going on, especially in Eastsound Urban Growth Area. They embraced the GMA without even looking at the environmental consequences. Then we hear we must do this or that because… Climate Change. Without riparian wetlands and protection of nearshore and shoreline habitat, what do we have besides flood zones and deserts? I and others have raised these questions for years, to resistant and deaf ears – it’s easier to blame fossil fuels than look at what creates good climate diversity and doing THAT. Still waiting for some answers.
Or, instead of destroying the environment with more energy industry, we could all cut WAY back on energy use. Have maximum house size limits; eliminate energy intensive projects; reduce and eventually eliminate tourism; and stop and eventually reverse growth.
York and Bell (2019)*. have demonstrated that new energy projects do not replace fossil fuels, but rather add to total energy used. We already know that the more efficient homes, appliances, cars, etc. are, the more energy we use (known as the rebound effect, or Jevon’s paradox). So, we will, as a county, need to make an intentional, concerted, combined effort to overcome the growth imperative, and all reduce energy use. Maybe we can have contests to see who can use the least amount of energy…. make it fun.
The average American uses 20x more energy that most of the rest of the world. It’s time we cut back.
* https://content.csbs.utah.edu/~mli/Economics%207004/York%20and%20Bell-Energy%20Transition%20or%20Addition.pdf
Most of the county’s energy use is for transportation and heating. To increase efficiency and stop burning fossil fuels, there is a global shift to electric heat pumps (3X more efficient than fossil fuels) and electric vehicles (5X more efficient than fossil fuels). Because of that enormous efficiency benefit, Washington State’s 2021 Energy Strategy estimates TOTAL energy use will decrease by 28 percent by 2050. Their goal is to ramp fossil fuel use down to NetZero by 2050 and replace that energy with renewable energy.
Every utility in the state has substantial renewable energy projects in the planning stages to meet the need as we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Many grants and incentives help pay for these projects, but they are time-sensitive. The US and states are looking for ways to make permitting renewables more efficient.
OPALCO has several programs and funding that can help you improve energy efficiency. See the Green Tips and SwitchItUp program: https://www.opalco.com/save/green-tips/
Jay, could you elaborate on the assumptions you use to claim that heat pumps are 3x more efficient than fossil fuels. What assumption due you use for the sources of the electricity used in your heat pumps? And remember, solar does not work at night and is reduced during the cold winter months. In cold weather. don’t heat pumps become significantly less efficient? Will there be enough solar for all those heat pumps.
What assumptions do you make for the EV efficiency claims? What energy source supplies your EV? Where does the electricity come from for your EV? Maybe free from OPALCO’s other customers.
It would be helpful if you could tell us your whole story.
Thanks for the good questions, Tom. Ductless heat pumps in our climate zone 4 have typical coefficients of performance (COP) of 3 or more, compared to resistance heat, which has a COP of 1. Efficiency is more or less as it gets warmer or colder. Learn more about heater efficiency here: https://insider.energytrust.org/technical-tip-explain-heating-efficiency-ratings/
For EVs, driving in the islands at our moderate speeds, EVs are especially efficient. Car size and aerodynamics can make a difference in efficiency. My Nissan Leaf gets about 4.5 miles per kWh. I have heard that the Lucid gets 5 miles per kWh. And heavier less efficient EVs may get 3 miles per kWh. Here’s a chart that compares EV efficiencies: https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10963
As to whether there will be enough local solar for heat pumps, it depends on if the county and islanders support building community solar microgrids in the county. Otherwise, we will continue to depend on the mainland for new energy load. The planned Bailer Hill Microgrid will more than double the county’s local energy compared to all the rooftop solar, which took 13 years to build. Learn more about that: https://www.opalco.com/support-local-renewable-energy-projects/2024/06/
BTW, many customers are converting electric resistance heat to ductless heat pumps, so that is reducing heat load by 3X for each conversion. For those members that are converting propane/wood heat to ductless heat pumps, that does increase electric load, but much less than if they converted to resistance heat.