Palo Alto Goes Solar, 80 Megawatts at 6.9 Cents per Kilowatt-Hour

[kristopher]

Palo Alto Goes Solar, 80 Megawatts at 6.9 Cents per Kilowatt-Hour

Some of the cheapest solar in the land in the heart of Silicon Valley


ERIC WESOFF: JUNE 20, 2013
The city of Palo Alto could claim the title of being the Heart of Silicon Valley (against the protestations of San Jose, Mountain View, Cupertino, and Menlo Park). The Northern California city is the home of Stanford University, Packard's garage, a high concentration of venture capitalists, and a crop of high-tech startups that's growing like kudzu.

And now it's home to a municipal utility which has approved 80 megawatts in solar power purchase agreements (PPAs) to meet approximately 18 percent of the city's load -- and essentially provide power for all of Palo Alto's 65,000 residents, according to the utility.

But the big story is the price.

The price is an eye-opening 6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for the 30-year PPA.

"Try building a new nuke or coal plant at that price,"...

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Palo-Alto-Ca-Goes-Solar-Cheaply-80-Megawatts-At-6.9-Cents-Per-Kilowatt-Ho?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily


The price is an eye-opening 6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for the 30-year PPA.

The price is an eye-opening 6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for the 30-year PPA.

The price is an eye-opening 6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour for the 30-year PPA.

Damn!

[quadrature]

1. prices in PaloAlto are for insane people only

for real prices, ERCOT 6-22.
http://www.ercot.com/content/cdr/html/20130622_dam_spp
look, how many $70s do you see?...not many.
lots of 20s, 30s, 40s.
remember, it is the beginning of Summer
winter will be lower.
6.9 / Kwh --> $69 Mwh on the ercot table

[oldhippie]

2. What does ERCOT have to do with Palo Alto?

What is the point you are trying to make?

I think $0.069 per kWHr for a PPA for 30 years falls into the too good to be true bucket, but if it is real it is a real mind bender.

[quadrature]

3. .069 ...stupid HIGH price, that only criminal-oriented politicians

would force on their constituents.

I use ERCOT as an example
of what normal electricity prices are,
as most people will not know that.

[oldhippie]

4. So, again, what does the spot wholesale price in Texas ...

... Have to do with the PPA price in Palo Alto? Most people in CA will be real happy with $.069/kWHr.

[quadrature]

5. so, how much is PA paying now?

and on what terms, if you know that.
thanks

[Yo_Mama]

8. CA 2012 average 31.72 per MW

Less than half of the price given in the OP.

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=9510

Ignorance is rarely actually blissful.

[Yo_Mama]

6. That's not the price they will be charged

That's the wholesale price - often about 1/3rd of consumer price, although of course it gets averaged in the rates.

[oldhippie]

10. True, but .........

Yes, the municipal utility will add their charges and expenses. But I think the point was that this was a very low price for CLEAN, RENEWABLE solar energy, not kWhrs bought wholesale from gas or coal plants somewhere out of state. Yes, the price is higher than the spot wholesale average price of dirty electricity, but it is good for clean energy, and it seems to be locked in for the duration of the PPA. It still seems like good news to me.

edit: cost vs price

[Yo_Mama]

9. For more information on wholesale prices see EIA data

Here:
http://www.eia.gov/electricity/wholesale/

[CreekDog]

13. Palo Alto is a public utility --not a profit making entity

thus, they won't sell to the highest bidder, but first for their own city's electricity needs, and to nearby markets when those needs are already met.

[oldhippie]

14. True. Which is why I asked what .....

... the spot wholesale price in Texas (ERCOT) had to do with anything.

[Yo_Mama]

7. This is actually a high price - more than twice the CA average in 2012

You really don't understand how the electricity market works, do you?

CA wholesale 2012


http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=9510

[CreekDog]

18. well if you'd prefer Palo Alto procure fossil fuel energy and/or nuclear from elsewhere...

then i can see why you're disappointed.

According to the City of Palo Alto, this is the lowest-cost renewable energy it has procured in the last eight years.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Palo-Alto-Ca-Goes-Solar-Cheaply-80-Megawatts-At-6.9-Cents-Per-Kilowatt-Ho?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=Headline&utm_campaign=GTMDaily

[Yo_Mama]

21. I'm not disappointed, nor do I disapprove

It is a lower cost than you get normally pay for solar power, although I have seen some estimates as low as 3.9 for larger installations in some areas. But those were just projections, and you know how that goes.

The cost of power from solar in the areas with high insolation is really coming down these days.

The reason I am in favor of the larger solar farm projects is that they can be set up with lower costs, which is probably critical to ratcheting up the percentage of renewables in some areas. It's also easier to integrate and deploy.

[dbackjon]

11. Good thing you repeated how expensive this power is

[CreekDog]

12. it's expensive? it's almost half what i pay and i live near Palo Alto

i guess if it's not nuclear, you have to badmouth it.

[dbackjon]

15. For the wholesale price, yes it is

I have no problem with solar, and wind if done right. But neither are capable of supplying the US with power.

We should be getting rid of coal and oil plants first. Nuclear is far more benign than either of those dirty sources.


All power has it's problems - wind and solar are not benign, especially if sited wrong.

[CreekDog]

16. But is Palo Alto, a city/government utility creating this power source solely to wholesale?

or is it's main purpose to provide renewable energy to its own residents?

maybe you'd like Palo Alto to build a nuclear generating station in FB's old headquarters on California Street?

Is that what you'd like?

[dbackjon]

17. no - it is good what PA is doing

My point was that he was making it out to be this super cheap source of power, which is a lie.

[Yo_Mama]

19. Yeah, it's main purpose for buying the power is to get the renewable-sourced electricity

There are also CA mandates on utilities and renewables - I don't know how much of this is regulatory and how much just the desire to get a cleaner source of power.

[Yo_Mama]

20. It's expensive as wholesale pricing

Which is very different from retail pricing. For one thing, the retail price includes other costs. You just cannot compare wholesale pricing to retail pricing.