Fall 2001 Energy - A Search for Solutions

Fall 2001 - Energy

A Search for Solutions
by Brian Harrington

Running around his office like a child in a toy store, Whatcom County Executive Pete Kremen pauses in different parts of the casually lit room to point out places where something is missing: light bulbs.

“We took out 2,700 bulbs in the courthouse alone,” Kremen said.

The light bulbs were removed as part of an energy reduction program for Whatcom County, stemming from the recent energy shortage.

County officials made similar changes in other county buildings with the goal of reducing energy costs during the shortage. One organization’s goal is to build 1,000 solar panels in Whatcom County and local businesses have entered the project to save energy.

“I don’t know of any other state entity that was as successful as we were,” Kremen said. “We were recognized by the governor and Puget Sound Energy for our aggressive conservation efforts.”

Kremen said Whatcom County officials reduced energy consumption by 25 percent in February 2001, the first month conservation efforts were implemented. The number was up to 32 percent by March.

“We not only saved therms and kilowatt hours,” Kremen said. “We saved money as well.”

Kremen said once energy use affected the economy, conservation efforts began in earnest.

“It became much more aggressive and acute when there were people being laid off at Georgia Pacific and Governor Gary Locke announced an emergency,” Kremen said.

Georgia-Pacific West, inc., one of the world’s leading paper products manufacturers, closed its Bellingham pulp plant, citing electricity costs as the major factor. A 33-year company history came to an end March 30, 2001, when around 400 employees lost their jobs. The company’s energy bill went from $13 million in 1999 to $32 million in 2001.

Whatcom County’s economy looked as if it was going to take an even larger blow one month later when Alcoa’s aluminum plant in Ferndale announced it would shut down if it couldn’t find a cheaper energy source within six months, laying off over 900 workers.

“I felt the county needed to set an example that we were concerned with the energy problem,” Kremen said.

“Whether or not we get affordable energy, conservation must always be practiced,” Kremen said. “Gas, water and electricity are all resources. They shouldn’t be wasted, not only because it saves money and power. It saves the environment as well.”

The most recent energy shortage may be over, but Whatcom County officials along with local residents continue to discuss and research alternative energy sources and conservation.

“To me, anything clean and meeting EPA standards is worth looking at,” Kremen said. “We would like to see the private sector come up with their own solutions to meeting our energy needs.”

Jack Hardy, director of the Center for Environmental Science at Huxley College, enjoys keeping things simple to conserve energy. This summer, he and his wife oversaw the construction of their new house, which is heated almost entirely with passive solar energy, complete with an indoor waterfall.

Passive solar uses the sun to directly heat a building. The only difference between Hardy’s home and those of his neighbors is that most of the windows in Hardy’s home are on the south-facing wall, and he has a polished concrete floor and wall.

In the winter, sunlight comes through the windows and is absorbed by the floor and back wall. After the sun goes down, the blinds are pulled and the heat absorbed by the floor and wall keep the house warm through the night.

In the summer, when the sun is higher in the sky, eaves above the windows block midday sunlight, allowing the house to stay cool during the hottest part of the day.

“I like to do my share in not contributing to global warming.” Hardy said.

This winter will be the first test of Hardy’s design.

Hardy’s route may appeal to home builders, but people want their existing homes to not only save energy but produce it, there is an organization that offers an energy alternative.

The Next Generation Energy Co-op is a nonprofit organization that works to spread information about, and raise money for, a solar power project in Whatcom County — The Whatcom 1000. The Co-op is trying to find people willing to commit to home-based solar power.

“We have somewhere from 48 to 80 residents looking to take that next step,” Co-op Executive Director Peter Tassoni.

Jeffree Utter, owner of Alternative Energy Solutions, checks the angle of a solar panel support pole that he constructed at Smith and Northwest Ball and Soccer Fields. The panels were installed as part of the Whatcom 1000 solar project along with panels at the Community Food Co-Op in Bellingham, the Whatcom County Senior Center, and the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Departments main office. (Chris Goodenow)

The Whatcom 1000 project is the product of a program started by former-President Bill Clinton that aims to have 1 million solar-paneled rooftops in the United States by 2010. Locke committed Washington state to providing 5,000 roofs to Clinton’s program, and Whatcom County volunteered to have 1,000 solar panels installed by 2010. The Co-op wants to see Whatcom County reach that goal.

“We’re drawing on a need for renewable energy, for sustained energy and a sustained economy,” Tassoni said.

The Co-op loans money to residents who want to set up solar systems. The loans of up to $5,000 would pay for half of a solar power system that would generate one kilowatt.

“A one kilowatt system could produce one-third to all of the required power for a four-person household,” Tassoni said.

Solar power is considered much more efficient than power off the grid, Tassoni said. He said that when power is generated and then transferred through power lines, energy is lost.

“We lose up to 20 percent in transmission loss,” Tassoni said. “The longer the distance, the greater the loss.”

Tassoni said this would be like dumping out 20 percent of the gas in your tank before driving to Seattle, it doesn’t make any sense.

“When we send 300 watts of energy down to California, they only receive maybe 240 watts due to transmission loss,” Tassoni said.

Tassoni said companies are forced to overproduce energy to make sure the amount ordered is received.

“By overproducing, we get more pollution,” he said.

The Whatcom 1000 project plans to install its first panels on a home in December. Solar panels are already installed at the Community Food Co-op in Bellingham, the Whatcom County Senior Center, the Whatcom County Parks and Recreation Department’s main office and recently at the Northwest Soccer Park.

“Solar energy doesn’t pollute,” Tassoni said. “Panels are very clean. Children can play on them; birds can stand on them. They also give a greater security against the loss of power.”

After a system is installed, local utilities like PSE will install a special device called a net meter. The meter measures the amount of electricity a home takes off the power grid and then measures the amount of produced by the solar panels. The customer is charged the difference between the two numbers.

A 1998 law requires all utility providers in Washington to offer a net meter to customers.

Kathy Larson, spokeswoman for PSE, said the company encourages people to set up solar projects.

“We are mandated to serve all of our customers,” Larson said. “We encourage them to ‘use all you need and need all you use.’”

PSE is the primary provider of electrical power to Whatcom County. Larson said the company recently created an Internet-based program to educate the public about better energy use.

The new program shows daily electricity use on colorful graphs for each household. The graphs also show the amount of electricity used at different peak times of the day.

“If people moved 10 percent of their energy use to off-peak times it would cause a significant reduction in the need to build plants for generation,” Larson said.

A pilot program also offered on the Internet will allow 300,000 residents and 20,000 businesses to check their hourly energy use. The program’s graphs show different colors for the peak times of the day and where the energy use is highest, Larson said.

“The effects of energy use on the environment will wake people up,” Larson said. “But the effect of energy use on the pocketbook will wake people up as well.”

Fall 2001 - Energy

A Search for Solutions by Brian Harrington

A Search for Solutions
by Brian Harrington