Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

In the United States, rural electric cooperatives have an aging distribution system (1 million miles of distribution wires were originally installed over 40 years ago) and a load density that is about one-tenth of the load density at other utilities. The result is that there may soon be a large market opportunity for photovoltaics (PV) and other distributed resources. This paper calculates the cost of replacing portions of the distribution system as it wears out with hybrid-PV systems, compares it to the cost of replacing the system with equivalent distribution system equipment, and selects the alternative with the lowest cost. Results suggest that there is a potential market of500 MW to 950MWofPVat a price of $3, OOO/kW (a 50 percent reduction over PV prices in 2000) and a corresponding fossil-based generation market size of 280 MW to 555 MW at a price of $1, OOO/kW. The hybrid-PV systems could replace 7 percent to 16 percent of the miles of distribution system and could save co-ops $1.0 billion to $2.5 billion (present value).

Keywords

Photovoltaics Renewable energy electricity cooperatives Distributed generation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

EIA (1995). Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency, Monthly Electricity Consumption Data (ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/electricity/agg82695.exe).

EIA (1996). Annual Energy Outlook 1997. Department of Energy's Energy Information Agency, DOE/EUA-0383(97).

Hoff

T.E.

(1996). “Identifying Distributed Generation and Demand Side Management Investment Opportunities.” The Energy Journal 17(4): 89-105.

Hoff

T.E.

(1997). “Using Distributed Resources to Manage Risks Caused by Demand Uncertainty.” The Energy Journal Special Issue, Distributed Resources: Toward a New Paradigm of the Electricity Business: 63-83.

Hoff

T. E.

Herig

(1999). “Clean Distributed Resources in the U.S. Residential Market.” IEEE Power Engineering Review 19(11): 11-15.

Hoff

T.E.

Wenger

H.J.

Herig

Shaw

and R.W.

Jr. (1997). “Distributed Generation and Micro-Grids.” Proceedings of the 18th USAEE/IAEE Conference, San Francisco, CA, September, pp. 239-248.

Hoff

T.E.

Wenger

H.J.

Herig

Shaw

and R.W.

Jr. (1998). “A Micro-Grid with PV, Fuel Cells, and Energy Efficiency.” Proceedings of the 1998 Annual Conference, American Solar Energy Society, Albuquerque, NM, June, pp. 225-230.

Hoff

T.E.

Cheney

(1999). “The Electric Co-op Market: Replacing Rural Lines with PV.” Presented at UPEx '99. Available at http://www.clean-power.com. October 5.

Hoff

T.E.

Herig

(2000). “The Market for Photovoltiacs in New Homes Using Micro-Grids.” Proceedings of the 2000 Annual Conference, American Solar Energy Society, Madison, WI, June.

10.

Masters

G. M.

(1991). Introduction to Environmental Engineering and Science. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.

11.

NARECA (1998). National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Facts About Electric Cooperatives, http://www.nreca.org/coops/elecoop3.html., Source: 1996 Dept. of Energy/Energy Information Agency/NRECA Strategic Analysis. March.

12.

Norris

Benjamin L.

(1999). Utility Cost Analysis for Evaluating PV-based Line Retirement at Northwest Rural Public Power District. Report prepared for Clean Power Research and the Utility Photovoltaic Group. November.

13.

Pfeifenberger

J.P

Hanser

P.Q.

Ammann

P.R.

(1997). “What's in the Cards for Distributed Resources?” The Energy Journal Special Issue, Distributed Resources: Toward a New Paradigm of the Electricity Business: 1-16.

14.

RUS (1996). 1995 Statistical Report: Rural Electric Borrowers, United States Department of Agriculture, Informational Publication 201-1.

15.

RUS (1998a). Operating and financial data for 1994-1996 collected by the Energy Forecasting Branch, Electric Staff Division of the Rural Utility Service using RUS Form 7.

16.

RUS (1998b). Rural Utility Service Website http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/.

17.

Shultz

(1998). Personal communication with Georg Shultz, Chief, Energy Forecasting Branch, Electric Staff Division, Rural Utility Service. July 20.

18.

Wenger

H.J.

(1996). “Capacity Factor Map of the United States.” Contained as a help file in QuickScreen Software (http://www.pacificenergy.com).

19.

Wills

(1998). A Feasibility Study: Photovoltaic Power for Tensleep Preserve, Wyoming. Report prepared for the Nature Conservancy and the Utility Photo Voltaic Group.

The Potential Market for Photovoltaics and Other Distributed Resources in Rural Electric Cooperatives

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References