SOLAR TODAY - September/October 2011

1Public Service electric and Gas (NJ) — 35. 2 watts/customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: Public service electric & gas (Pse&g) is new jersey’s oldest and largest electric utility, with over 2. 2 million electric customers in

300 communities throughout the state. Solar Snapshot: Pse&g is subject to new jersey’s ambitious generation-based solar carve-out, which requires 5,316 gigawatt-hours of annual solar electricity production by 2026. with 117 mw installed — 45 percent of the state total — Pse&g sets a good pace. Last year’s addition of 75 mw was tops, on a per-customer basis, among ious in the united states.

2Hawaiian electric (HI) — 33. 2 watts/ customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: serving five of the eight hawaiian islands, hawaiian electric and its subsidiaries serve over 90 percent of the state’s 1.3 million residents.

Solar Snapshot: hawaii has no rPs or solar carve-out, but does have a Fit for iou customers that pays between 19 and 27 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh), depending on system size and technology. At an average of 25 cents per kwh, hawaii also has the most expensive electricity in the country, providing further incentive for photovoltaic (Pv) solar development.

3Xcel energy (CO) — 30. 9 watts/ customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: with 1.4 million customers and a service territory that extends over almost half the state’s surface area, Xcel energy is colorado’s largest electric utility. (see page 40, “A city votes on energy independence,” to read about how Xcel could lose its contract with boulder, colo.) Solar Snapshot: : to meet a 3 percent solar carve-out, one of the nation’s strongest, Xcel added 42 mw of Pv in colorado in 2010. Projections for 2011 are even stronger, though there was a four-week suspension of the solar rebate program in February and march. Xcel’s now logged 85 mw of solar capacity, about 70 percent of colorado’s total.

The rest of the top 10: 4 Pacific gas & electric (cA) —

30. 2 watts/customer 5 tucson electric Power (AZ) —

29. 7 watts/customer 6 black hills energy colorado electric (co) —

28. 2 watts/customer 7 Atlantic city electric (nj) — 27. 9 watts/customer

8 Arizona Public service (AZ) —

26. 8 watts/customer 9 hawaii electric Light (hi) — 23.1 watts/customer

10 maui electric (hi) — 22. 8 watts/customer

Leading Cooperative Utilities 1Kauai Island utility Co-op (HI) — 24. 4 watts/ customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: the kauai island utility co-op serves the 65,000 residents of hawaii’s most western publically accessible island.

Solar Snapshot: the kauai co-op, which voluntarily adopted a 50 percent-by-2023 renewable goal, charged 43 cents per kilowatt-hour in july — expensive even by hawaiian standards. Although hawaii’s Fit applies only to ious and not to co-ops, the price alone has sparked strong solar market growth. kauai co-op now gets power from 3. 3 mw of total Pv capacity, equivalent to

100 watts/customer.

2Kit Carson electric Co-op (NM) — 22. 2 watts/ customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: kit carson electric co-op serves 30,000 members around taos, n.m.

Solar Snapshot: As a cooperative utility, kit carson is subject to a scaled-down version of new mexico’s rPs, and entirely exempt from its 4 percent solar carve-out. eighty percent of the solar in its service territory is found in two centralized projects, a 500-kilowatt (kw) tracking array on the grounds of university of new mexico-taos and a 100-kw carport system outside the co-op’s headquarters.

3Tri-State electric Membership-TVA (GA) — 16.0 watts/customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: A power distributor of the tennessee valley Authority (tvA), tri-state electric membership serves 18,000 customers in georgia, tennessee and north carolina.

Solar Snapshot: ninety percent of tri-state’s 230 kilowatts of solar capacity is in Fannin county, ga. in late 2009, the tvA launched the performance-based generation Partners Program, paying Pv system owners 12 cents per kilowatt-hour above the retail electricity rate. tvA also offers $1,000 for new systems to offset up-front costs. both incentives are of critical importance, because georgia has no rPs or state rebate for Pv. not surprisingly, in 2010, the cooperative reported over 200 kilowatts of new photovoltaic (Pv) solar — more than 10 times what had been installed previously.

The rest of the top 10:

4 trico electric co-op (AZ) —

14. 3 watts/customer

5 sulpher springs valley electric co-op (AZ) —

9.0 watts/customer

6 holy cross energy (co) — 7. 7 watts/customer 7 Plumas-sierra rural electric (AZ) —

7. 4 watts/customer

8 north georgia electric membership-tvA (gA) —

6. 9 watts/customer

9 choptank electric (mD) — 6. 7 watts/customer 10 consumer Power (or) — 4.1 watts/customer

Leading Municipal Utilities 1Silicon Valley Power (CA) — 39. 9 watts/ customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: As the municipal electric utility for the city of santa clara, silicon valley Power services more than 52,000 customers.

Solar Snapshot: since the california solar initiative’s (csi) incentive program was extended to municipal utilities in 2008, silicon valley Power has experienced a flurry of solar activity. the program includes both up-front rebates (systems less than 50 kw) and performance-based payments (systems greater than 50 kw) that decline on a milestone-based 10-step sliding scale; in santa clara in late july, the residential rebate was at $2.50 per watt. silicon valley Power now draws from 3. 6 mw of Pv, for an average of 70 watts per customer.

2Jacksonville electric Authority (FL) — 29.1 watts/customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: jacksonville electric Authority services more than 417,000 electric customers in jacksonville, Fla., and three adjoining counties. Solar Snapshot: jacksonville made the leading municipal utility list because of one project: the 12.6-mw jacksonville solar array, accounting for over 95 percent of the city’s total Pv capacity. the sad state of jacksonville’s residential Pv market is consistent with the rest of the state — Florida has no rPs or solar carve-out, and declined to renew its rebate program, which sunset last november.

3City of Banning (CA) — 27. 6 watts/ customer installed in 2010 utility Overview: the city of banning, between Palm springs and Los Angeles, serves 12,000 electric customers.

Solar Snapshot: in December 2010, banning became the first city in california to reach its csi rebate requirement, determined uniquely for every electric utility in the state. since banning hit its $2 million requirement, it has gone on to distribute another $400,000 — impressive, considering the utility bottomed out on “step 10” of the incentive ladder, which rebates only $0.20 per watt for residential installations.