PUC Small Renewable Energy Initiative
Sept. 30, 2009
|
|
More and more South Dakotans are becoming interested in generating energy for
their own use, whether by wind turbine, solar panel or some other technology.
The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission encourages common sense
development of distributed generation and is proposing a five-part "Small
Renewable Energy Initiative."
Although the initial comment period for the Small Renewable Energy Initiative has expired, the PUC continues to value and will accept public input.
1. Reducing
Up-Front Taxes
Many large energy projects are eligible to receive a partial refund of their
contractors excise tax. This bill would provide similar incentives to smaller
projects, allowing any project of 10 MW or less to receive a 100 percent refund
of the contractor's excise tax. This would provide an incentive of about $500
for a small residential turbine and approximately $200,000 for a
community-based project featuring two large turbines.
Review the
proposed legislation.
|
|
2. Reducing
Ongoing Taxes
In recent years, our state has twice reduced property taxes on large wind
projects to encourage their construction in South Dakota. This bill would
provide similar incentives to smaller projects, allowing any project less than
5 MW to exempt the first $50,000 of assessed value or 70 percent of the
assessed value, whichever is greater, from property tax. The effect would be
that many small residential turbines would pay no property tax.
Review the
proposed legislation.
|
|
3.
Ensuring a Fair Price
Many South Dakotans with distributed generation are interested in selling
excess power to their local utility company. This bill would ensure small
generators (up to 100 kW) would be paid no less than the costs the utility pays
to purchase or generate electricity. Utilities would be required to file those
rates annually with the commission, and the rates of the public utilities would
have to be approved by the PUC.
Review the
proposed legislation.
|
|
4. Improving
Interconnection
Because of a variety of safety and engineering concerns, connecting to the grid
has never been an easy task. In attempt to simplify the process the PUC, over
the last two years, has developed a streamlined and uniform set of
interconnection standards required to be used by public utilities within the
state. This component of the Small Renewable Energy Initiative would call on
the commission to monitor (and when appropriate, improve) those streamlined
procedures. The commission would also work with other utilities not affected by
the current rules in an attempt to further standardize the procedures
statewide.
Review the recently-approved interconnection rules.
|
|
5.
Promoting Smart Siting
Many local governments haven't yet developed expertise in siting wind turbines.
The result can sometimes be local rules that create an unintended barrier to
wind development. That's why last year the PUC worked with a variety of
stakeholders to develop a model wind siting ordinance, which can be implemented
at the city or county level. The ordinance addresses setbacks, noise,
decommissioning, and other important siting topics. Although some local
governments have adopted the model ordinance, the commission would like to see
the ordinances adopted in more jurisdictions across the state.
Review the model
wind ordinance.
|
