Feed-in tariff programs in the United States set the stage for large scale growth in the renewable energy industry.
Detail
TRAVERSE CITY -- A group of local citizens is launching a Web site to promote an exciting, new renewable energy and economic development tool that they want to bring to Traverse City.
The site, www.TCFits.org, is dedicated to feed-in tariffs (FITs), a powerful, proven economic tool that is now allowing private citizens, businesses, and community groups around the United States and in over 70 countries to make a fair profit by generating and feeding renewable energy into their local electric utility's grid.
Traverse City Light & Power, this city's municipally owned and operated utility, has discussed FIT policy in the past, but has yet to study the question closely in public. Five months ago, the Michigan Land Use Institute and Michigan Energy Alternatives Project reintroduced the topic when it presented TCL&P with a white paper describing a possible path forward that included FITs for the city-owned utility, which strives to be a leader in developing renewable energy.
Organizers of TCFits.org say that their new Web site, which was made possible by Digital Garage, a division of Rivet Entertainment, of Traverse City, is an effort to accelerate that discussion by introducing FITs to a larger audience and building public support for it.
Lee Ewald, a TCFits.org advisory board member and retired public school educator who lives in Central Lake, says a trip to Europe convinced him that feed-in tariffs are a " must" for Michigan and that Traverse City is a good place to start.
"While in Germany, I witnessed firsthand the tremendous power of feed-in tariffs to get communities involved in renewable energy development", Ewald said. " I want to do my best to help this policy get a foothold in Michigan, where it is so desperately needed to revitalize our economy. Three-hundred-thousand jobs are directly attributable to this policy in Germany. "
Feed-in tariffs' or rates usually involve 15- or 20-year contracts between a clean energy entrepreneur and a local utility. The rates are designed to assure the entrepreneur a fair profit for generating and selling renewable electricity.
In most places where they are installed, feed-in tariffs quickly spark sizeable leaps in renewable energy generation. In many cases, particularly in Germany, which pioneered the concept, the tariffs trigger the rapid growth not only of renewable generation, but the manufacture of renewable energy generating equipment, particularly solar panels, as well. The policy seems perfect for Michigan, which has many idled factories and workers ready to make new products.
When properly customized and scaled to local conditions which include geography, tax rates, interest rates, and even the local climate FITs have a minimal effect on electricity rates.
Experience demonstrates that the tariffs quickly provide a direct stimulus to new job growth as people invest in their own clean energy systems. The tariffs also capture and re-circulate energy dollars that would usually head to coal states, and provide new revenue to those who invest in clean energy from schools and non-profits to private companies and investment groups. The policy also sharply cuts the need for a utility to both borrow heavily and invest in new power plants, because feed-in tariff participants find individual, private financing for their projects.
Don Davis, president of Capitol City Bank, in Gainseville, Fla. helped bring a FIT to his municipal utility. His company views loans for feed-in tariff projects as rock-solid investments.
" Banks have seen loan requests from clients who would not normally be in a borrowing mode", he wrote in an email endorsing the goals of TCFits.org. " Your utility's dependence on obtaining capital to invest in future generation of power is reduced, which benefits all citizens of Traverse City. But, as a participant myself, with solar panels on my roof, I can tell you personally that the big payoff is knowing that you are 'doing the right thing' for your children's future. "
Ontario, Canada offers a nearby success story, and TCFits.org recounts it. The site describes the recent, dramatic expansion of a small, pilot feed-in tariff program there into the entire province, and the extraordinary response it provoked from a wide range of participants, from mom and pop investors to major generating companies.
Since this past spring, when Ontario updated its feed-in law, new tariffs have created more than $9 billion in private investment. The province is also already seeing large, clean-energy manufacturers relocating there in order to meet the increased demand for their products. Today Ontario seems well on its way to eliminating coal as a source of power, thanks largely to FITs and the province's rich hydroelectric resource.
TCFits.org fully describes how FITs work and walks site visitors through the various steps it takes to become a profitable clean-energy producer.
The Web site features definitions and descriptions of various FIT programs, and a special comments section where readers can describe how they think FITs can help the Traverse area. Visitors are encouraged to comment, bring blogs to the site, and sign up for e-mails about news and events. An extensive list of links allow readers to research all sides of the question as part of TCFits.org's drive to spark a healthy debate and evaluation of feed-in tariffs in Traverse City.
For background information on how feed-in tariffs work and how they have been developed see this documentary video:
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