SaskPower cranks up credits for small windmill operators
Last Updated: Monday, October 1, 2007 | 6:54 PM ET
CBC News
The Saskatchewan government has launched a new program aimed at helping people who want to get credit for feeding their own electricity into the power grid.
On Monday, the Crown utility, SaskPower, unveiled details of a new "net metering" program that will give homeowners credits for extra electricity they produce with windmills, solar power cells and other alternative sources.
Under the system, people feeding extra power into the grid will receive credits that are valued at the same rate as the electricity they buy from SaskPower.
That's good news for people like Terry Deck, who generates his own power from two windmills on his acreage near Lumsden.
Until now, SaskPower was only willing to pay people like him half price to sell his power back. Deck said if that changes, so will his operation.
"That definitely changes the economics behind it," he said about the dollar-for-dollar credit system. "Now it makes it more viable for me to actually invest my capital into windmills and solar panels to actually make a change."
A number of other provinces allow net-metering, including Ontario and British Columbia.
The term "metering" refers to special equipment installed by SaskPower that records how much electricity is being fed into the grid.
The province says it will spend $300,000 a year to help those who
want to participate in the net-metering program to buy power-generating equipment.
The program is for people who want to generate "environmentally responsible power," a category that includes wind, solar, low-impact hydro, waste heat recovery and biomass. With biomass, wood and waste materials can be used as fuel to generate electricity.
Environment Minister John Nilson said the program will help Saskatchewan reach its goal of having 30 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
