Editorial: Harvest Wind an impressive energy project

Peninsula Light Company, one of the smaller utilities in the state that will be affected by the clean energy state mandate once it begins in 2012, has been proactive in its approach for a solution. PenLight CEO Jafar Taghavi said it best last week when he referenced PenLight’s expiring contract with Bonneville Power Administration in 2011 and the possibility that predictable rates will be a thing of the past.

That’s why PenLight joined three utilities in the Harvest Wind project, which is located near Goldendale on a ridge that overlooks the Columbia River. When the project comes online late this year or in early 2010, PenLight will have more flexibility than it’s had in its 85-year history: It will be in the business of generating its own power.

As Taghavi likes to say, tomorrow’s business is not business as usual.

The 100-megawatt wind farm is said to produce enough energy to power 20,000 homes. PenLight will have a 20 percent share in the project, which will take care of half of the 9 percent renewable energy mandate by 2016. Initiative 937, which voters passed three years ago, requires Washington utilities that serve at least 25,000 customers to have 3 percent of their energy portfolio renewable by 2012 and 15 percent by 2020. PenLight serves just more than 25,000 homes.

A lot of the credit in PenLight’s case goes to Power Resources Director Ray Grinberg, who has been seeking out ways the cooperative can best use its resources. It’s been a tricky situation, since PenLight doesn’t operate on a tax base and can’t ask for a levy. The member-owned cooperative doesn’t make a profit, and its Board of Directors makes sure members’ money is being spent in the best possible way.

That’s another reason why Taghavi didn’t want to put all his eggs in the Harvest Wind basket. PenLight’s $50 million investment surely will be felt — the board approved an 8.5 percent rate increase that went into effect on June 1, marking the first hike in nearly a decade — but it won’t fulfill all of the state requirement.

It’s too bad the state doesn’t consider hydroelectric power renewable under I-937, because PenLight would have it made. It currently buys all its power from BPA, and 86 percent of it is hydro. Only 4 percent is carbon-based.

That’s why it’s so important to be in the power generation business instead of just another customer.

And unless the state allows hydro power to be included in a renewable energy portfolio, Grinberg still has a lot on his plate. He’ll be scouting future projects, which may include wind, solar, geothermal or biomass, to help PenLight reach its 2016 requirement — and beyond.

PenLight is exploring those options, by itself and with a consortium of 14 other utilities, to find the most economical resource outside of hydro that will meet those needs.