Huntingburg Council: No solar power tariff

A $50 tariff didn’t make it into the ordinance regulating solar power and other renewable power generators residents can add to their homes.

In March, the council heard a recommendation from the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, the city’s electrical supplier, to add the $50 tariff to customers’ bills to cover the city for lost income from customers that add solar panels to their homes. At the meeting, Doug Buresh, senior vice-president of planning and operations with IMPA,introduced some draft ordinances for the common council to consider.

In addition to the recommended tariff, the ordinance added a charge for the special meters residents would need to measure their electrical production. Additionally, the ordinance required residents to register with the city to ensure utility workers would know which homes have renewable power supplies. Buresh mentioned the regulations ensured utility workers’ safety as well as protected the city from income losses as customers supplemented their energy needs with renewable sources.

The recommendation to add the tariff met a substantial amount of kickback from the public, most seeing it as a way for the electrical provider to mitigate future losses and deter customers from installing alternative power sources.

Energy Superintendent John Reutepohler told the council that after he reviewed the recommendation from IMPA, he felt the $50 suggested charge was too high so he began to research what other communities have done to help regulate the systems.

The city also invited a solar power installer to speak during Tuesday’s meeting. Al and Randy Fischer of The Fischer Group and Smart Energy Solutions both agreed they had never encountered such a high tariff, or consumer charge as City Attorney Phil Schneider called it, in the communities where they have installed systems.

Through Reutepohler’s research and suggestions from The Fischer Group, the city drafted its own ordinance with the following mandates.

• The maximum amount of power that could be produced by residents in the city would be maxed at 190 kW, or one percent, of the city’s peak demand. According to Fischer’s estimates, this would limit the number of installs in the city to about 30 residences. Reutepohler said if the city reached the cap from residents installing the systems, they would likely review the ordinance. However, with the restrictive cost of installing the systems, he didn’t expect to hit that cap anytime soon.
• Residents would pay a $100 application/connection fee to put the systems in. This would pay for the administrative costs associated with regulating the systems as well as the labor to inspect the installations. Residents could be fined up to $2,500 for not registering systems before installing them.
• The consumer charge would remain the same for those who opted to install solar, or other renewable sources. Currently, residents pay $5.18 monthly for this charge. IMPA recommended the city study that rate to consider increasing it in the near future.
• Residents would be charged a one-time fee of $325 for the special meter needed.

The council reviewed the new ordinance at Tuesday’s meeting but took no action as they continued to research how it should be implemented.

The council also took the following actions:

-Heard an announcement from Huntingburg Mayor Denny Spinner proclaiming the week of Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week.

-Heard that three Stellar Community projects were completed; the extension of Ninth Street between Styline Drive and Moenkhaus Drive; the Fourth Street water main replacement; and the completion of The Lofts at St. Joseph’s. According to Mayor Spinner, planning for several projects is substantially completed. Those include the new senior center, the Heritage Trail, the maintenance and emergency shelter, Market Street Park and new housing (Hunters Crossing).

-Heard the city had received $1.4 million from the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs to go towards the Market Street Park project. The city provided about $1.5 million through economic development income tax funds, TIF funds, Dubois County Community Foundation funds from the Stellar Endowment and utility funds.

-Approved a contract with Taylor, Siefker and Williams Design Group of Indianapolis for $420,229 for the engineering and design of Market Street Park. The contract was on hold until the state approved the city’s plans for Market Street.

• Heard Mayor Spinner had appointed Molly Prior to the Dubois County Airport Authority and Ron Mundy to the Huntingburg Board of Zoning Appeals.

• Heard an update from Tara Damin about the $1 million Community Crossings grant the city received from the Indiana Department of Transportation. Damin told the council that Huntingburg was the smallest city to receive the full amount available for the first year of the grant. The city had applied for about $923,000. The grant will go towards the $2.2 million needed to complete four street projects. Those include the widening, repaving and addressing drainage issues on County Road 400W from 12th Street to Phoenix Drive; the repaving of 11th Street from U.S. 231 to Chestnut Street; The repaving of 12th Street from U.S. 231 to Chestnut Street; and the reconstruction of Washington Street between State Road 64 and Church Avenue.

-Approved Water Superintendent Jason Stamm researching surge protecting equipment in the Water Treatment Plant. He explained that the Water Plant is protected from direct strikes by lightning but a strike to a power line could damage the electronic equipment in the plant. He explained this would shut water production down and become more expensive as the would then have to rely fully on the Patoka Regional Sewer District for its water.

-HeardfromClerk-Treasurer Tom Dippel that the estimated tax levy would be about $1.20 per $100 of assessed value for the city’s estimated $10,559,980 2017 budget. This is three cents higher than 2016’s levy. Final approval for the budget will occur in October.