Distributed Energy Leadership

Proposed Amount of Funding: $10 million

Partial guidelines for this program have been established. Three of the nine utilities have signed contracts to participate in this program. Further information will be posted for utility customers some time in early 2010 as application procedures are developed.

11-6-09: TRICO Electric Cooperative has signed a contract for $179,060 to participate in this program.
10-15-09: Duncan Valley Electric has signed a contract for $12,678 to participate in this program.
10-15-09: Mohave Electric Cooperative has signed a contract for $187,373 to participate in this program.

Guidelines for remaining funds are in the process of being established.

This proposed program would increase or match incentives provided by the state’s public utilities for distributed energy including solar water heating, solar PV, wind, and combined heat and power projects.

The funds would leverage existing solar energy programs that are ratepayer financed. These funds would benefit consumers, small or big businesses, and homeowners, among others.  These are pre-existing energy efficiency programs that have been proven to work, and as such have a track record of many years

Nature of Projects: Each utility may choose to participate and emphasize a different mix of technologies and/or target customer segments but would include solar water heating, solar PV, wind and combined heat and power projects.

Timeline: The partial funding would be available in late summer of 2009 with the remainder available by summer of 2010.

Long-term Benefits: The utilities have estimated that the benefits from this program would result in long-term benefits that include renewable energy generation and reduced carbon.  No actual number has been provided at this time.

Job Creation: Most of this funding would provide for job retention among Arizona companies currently designing and installing distributed generation.  However, by increasing the incentive there will be additional demand for the incentives and thus the creation of an unknown number of jobs would result.

Implementation: Administrative and programmatic costs are included in the total project budget proposed above.  Staff members who implement or manage the overall strategy or programs are direct costs to the project.