Distributed Power Generation - we pay this man the most money for this?

Alex Love manager of Nelson hydro continues to repeat the falsehood that the Nelson Community solar garden is about distributed energy generation when in fact its the opposite!

 His statements "its about distributed power generation" !!

The meaning of Distributed power generation :

Distributed generation (also known as distributed energy) refers to power generation at the point of consumption. Generating power on-site, rather than centrally, eliminates the cost, complexity, interdependencies, and inefficiencies associated with transmission and distribution.

Any intermittent unreliable power, solar and wind only add to infrastructure and costs.  The need for firm reliable power when wind and solar don't work still exists and requires infrastructure, solar and wind don't remove that.

At the city hydro budget meeting Alex Love explained distributed generation to the mayor and council as follows:

Take a large interior hydro dam for example it creates gobs of power but requires huge infrastructure to bring it to the population.  

Well that is still required no matter how many solar panels we waste our money on in BC.  Because they don't make power at night, hardly in winter, during peak breakfast demand or evening supper demand periods, or winter heating demands when solar is next to useless.

We pay this man the most money in Nelson.  Update,  he no longer works for this city. 

$3Million not returned??

               Another way to steal money from Nelson hydro customers to fund city projects

As a background, my attention came to Nelson Hydro and the city when they announced a community solar garden.  For the only city in Western Canada with its own hydro plant, solar panels are absurd, pretending to make solar power, while the cleanest and greenest waterpower spills over the dam.  My 30 years of working with solar, I attempted to point this out.  The arrogant dismissive attitude of the city managers to pick my pocket for yet another Nelson solar project caused me to dig in my heels and try to stop this absurdity.  The solar garden is built, the money has been wasted.
You can find that blog here./  This led me to another waste  nelsonfibre.


This involves the 5.8% Nelson hydro rate increase of 2012.    One reason for that years increase was to raise $3M for the District Energy project, if the project did not move forward the money was to be returned $750,000 per year for the next 4 years.

Returned to the Nelson hydro ratepayer as reduced electrical costs.....not a chance.  Disappeared in City finances somewhere!!!


This was written in the Nelson Star article Jan 24, 2012 titled "Nelson Hydro rates set for jump"

The important info as follows:  If it doesn’t go ahead, $750,000 per year from 2013 to 2016 will go back into the Nelson Hydro budget.

My logic says the portion of the  5.8% 2012 increase intended to raise this $3M should be returned to
the Nelson hydro ratepayer as reduced electric rates, not city revenue.

We see the following from this city Nelson Hydro 2012 Rates.pdf document.

Notice the Pink outlined $750,000 returned for the next 4 years.

From the same document we find Nelson hydro ratepayers funding many other things as seen below

              From the 2012 Budget Report for Nelson Hydro we see their contribution to the city

In years prior to about 2008 Nelson hydro rate increase applications to the BCUC were about
increases to fund excess power purchase costs, since that time, its been anything but.

From the Nelson city hydro website they state:

Power Purchase

Approximately 45% of our annual energy requirements are obtained via power purchase. The supplier has historically been West Kootenay Power, now FortisBC under the current traditional regulatory environment. Power purchase represents approximately 30% of our annual operating costs.

When Selkirk College recently renovated old dormitories in Nelson, the college administration was aiming for some level of LEED certification. Nelson Hydro was contracted to install a geothermal cooling and heating system, a new venture for them. They did it, and that system’s been in operation since September 2011.

another article regarding district energy