Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business • September 2018
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
27
Benton REA’s new co-op solar program sells out in one week
Thirty-one people buy 550 solar units; construction to begin this fall BY ARIELLE DREHER
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Members of the Benton Rural Electric Association bought out a new solar co-op program in just a week, despite declining incentives for the renewable energy source. Troy Berglund, community development and member relations manager at Benton REA, said he did not know how the program would be received. “I was uncertain of what to expect, because before the incentive was really high and really popular,” he said. Previously, Benton REA members who could afford to install rooftop solar panels received state and federal incentives to do so, but because Benton REA is a nonprofit, the association cannot use the federal tax credit for the co-op solar project. Individual members can claim the federal tax credit on their individual returns, however. The state solar incentives have slightly declined in value in recent years. The payback on the latest co-op solar project is about 14-and-a-half years instead of 10 years
previously. “I was unsure of how popular it would be,” Berglund said. “It sold out in a week, so that answered that question.” The first rooftop solar incentive program, which 173 members participated in, was so popular that the association ate up almost all of its state incentives at that time. “Benton REA is one of the quickest utilities to run through our incentives than any other utility in the state,” Berglund said, besides Orcas Power and Light Cooperative on Orcas Island. The solar co-op program is a 25-year program, and Benton REA, which covers a lot of Benton County, including West Richland, Prosser, and Sunnyside in Yakima County, anticipates the project producing just over 30 kilowatt hours of energy through 550 solar units. State law mandates that at least 10 people participate in each project, so the REA set the project cap at that limit. There are 31 participants in the co-op. Each solar unit cost $200 each up front for members, and they could
Jim Jewell, who owns two electric cars and an electric motorcycle, bought as many solar units as he could in the new Benton Rural Electric Association’s solar co-op program. (Courtesy Jim Jewell)
buy up to 55 units. “It’s going to take—between the state incentive and the cost savings on their bill—14-and-a-half years to make the $200 back and then after that from 14-anda-half years to year 25, which is the life of the program, it’s all additional profit,” Berglund said. Ken and Kirsten McCullough, who have been Benton REA members since they moved to West Richland 18 years
ago, were excited to participate. “Benton REA put it out in their newsletter, and we all jumped on it like June bugs,” Kirsten said. Kirsten, who used to work at the Hanford area, was grateful to invest in renewable energy, and the couple appreciated the affordability of the co-op program instead of the higher costs of installing and maintaining rooftop solar panels. uSOLAR, Page 28