environment

Balancing act

sbradford — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 20:22:19 +0000

Balancing act

March 1, 2024

The U.S. electricity system is poised to change more in the next 30 years than it did over the past century. The main reason for such a rapid transformation: goals set by industry and government to lower carbon dioxide (CO2) by mid-century. As leaders aim to reduce CO2 emissions across the economy, electricity is key to bringing those ambitious goals within reach. But that ambition must balance affordability and reliability.

Why electricity?

The U.S. electric sector led all other sectors by reducing CO2 emissions by 35 percent between 2005 and 2022, primarily by shifting from coal to natural gas-fired generation and increasing solar and wind generation. The sector’s continued progress will become even more important as electricity grows to account for 40% to 60% of final energy (the electricity or fuel customers use to power homes, businesses, and transportation) in the decades ahead (see Figure 1).

Leaders within and beyond the sector are focused on developing the right mix of resources to enable a low-carbon future. While specific CO2 targets and the resources available to achieve them can vary by region, the early steps of the carbon reduction journey have shown that:

Using every option at our disposal provides the greatest potential to balance affordability and reliability for customers;
Maximizing the potential of emerging resources rests on industry and government collaboration; and
Today’s decisions will have real impacts on the future energy system, so intentional and risk-informed plans must balance competing priorities.

Figure 1. As the U.S. transitions toward a low-carbon economy, electricity is projected to grow from 20% final energy in 2020 to 40% to 60% by 2050.

An all-options approach to CO2 reduction

Making a dramatically lower-carbon future into a reality means combining established technologies with new resources. Electricity today is generated by a mix of dispatchable power (nuclear, gas, coal, hydropower, and energy storage) and variable resources (solar and wind). These resources need to complement one another to help keep the lights on every second of every day. Achieving emissions goals reliably and affordably depends on having access to the full portfolio of energy resources, as different resources are viable in different regions.

In areas with conditions supporting renewable energy development, the U.S. will continue adding more wind and solar in the decades ahead. However, increased dependence on those variable renewable energy resources means there must be additional generation sources available to meet customers’ needs when the wind is not blowing and the sun is not shining. As higher levels of variable generation capacity grow across the system, emerging technologies like energy storage and advanced controls could combine with demand-side management to help serve customers. But today, proven dispatchable electricity generation remains the primary resource that provides system flexibility and reliability.

Driving progress through collaboration

Turning to emerging technologies before they are ready to scale can amplify transition challenges. Industry leaders and decision-makers can help alleviate those challenges by aligning around realistic and practical deployment time frames.

Consider the time it takes to develop new technologies. Historically, it has taken multiple decades to bring new generation options to market. Proven approaches to evolving the U.S. energy system have involved developing and testing technologies — including several full-scale demonstrations prior to industry-level deployment. Every time a new technology is deployed at scale, the resulting lessons learned help the industry build and operate the resource better the next time — more affordably, more reliably, more resiliently, and more safely (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. History has shown that it takes decades for energy supply technologies to evolve from concept to commercialization.

Near-term decisions, long-term effects

Through this energy transformation, balancing priorities is paramount. It requires considering decarbonization, affordability, reliability, resilience, equity, and environmental impacts at each step. Incorporating the right mix of dispatchable generation in a grid that is growing increasingly dependent on variable renewables will be necessary to provide reliable and resilient electricity over time.

Creating an affordable and reliable low-carbon future requires not only a clear understanding of the commercial viability of emerging technologies but also of the time it takes to scale them at an economy-wide level. It means determining the right mix of technologies to deliver the best results in a specific region — including new transmission lines, pipelines, and other infrastructure that requires additional time and investment.

Today the U.S. electric sector is leading economy-wide decarbonization by employing a mix of existing resources, such as renewables, existing nuclear, and other technologies. An energy transition designed around customers’ needs rests on answering the tough questions through strategic research and development and making the right forward-looking decisions to ensure affordability and reliability throughout the journey.

Neva Espinoza is vice president for energy supply and low-carbon resources at EPRI, the Electric Power Research Institute.

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carbon

environment

policy

Ask the expert

sbradford — Wed, 28 Feb 2024 20:13:37 +0000

Ask the expert

March 1, 2024

Pat O'Loughlin

Up Front

Often in life, we need to balance the practical with the possible. This is especially so as we navigate the social and political demands to rapidly reduce the amount of carbon emitted from the energy we use. I have had the opportunity to serve for the past few years on the board of directors of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the international research organization for the electric utility industry.

EPRI has been at the forefront of research to determine pathways that may someday lead to achieving dramatically lower carbon emissions that could meet the stated goals of many nations, organizations, and businesses around the world.

In my time on the board at EPRI, I’ve gotten a behind-the-scenes look at how our industry has been grappling with the many issues and concerns of rapid carbon emission reductions and identifying pathways that would allow us to meet those social and political demands. Among those concerns:

Addressing the shortcomings of wind and solar energy in meeting our 24/7/365 need for electricity.
Finding ways to dramatically increase electricity supply in order to reduce the amount of fossil fuel consumed by transportation, industry, and other domestic uses.
Recognizing — and getting constituents to recognize — the time frame that is required to develop promising new technologies from concept to commercial status to widespread use.
Acknowledging the cost of, and obstacles to developing and deploying, the large-scale infrastructure changes that will be needed to support new and emerging technologies.

I’ve often discussed my concerns about the potentially catastrophic results of trying to go too far, too fast in reducing fossil fuel use to supply the electricity we all depend on for our daily health, safety, and economic well-being. So, instead of adding more of my own words to the discussion in this issue of Ohio Cooperative Living, we’ve invited Neva Espinoza, a distinguished research leader at EPRI, to write about what’s possible — as well as what’s practical — as the nation and the world transition to a lower-carbon future.

These are difficult and challenging issues. I hope you’ll read the article titled "Balancing Act" in this month's issue of the magazine to get an update on these efforts.

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Conservation corps

sbradford — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 17:32:26 +0000

Conservation corps

July 1, 2023

W.H. Chip Gross

Woods, Waters & Wildlife

Some natural resources conservation groups talk a good game. Others diligently and quietly go about their stated mission, making a decided difference in the out-of-doors year by year, decade after decade. Appalachia Ohio Alliance is definitely one of the latter.

“AOA is a private, nonprofit land conservancy organization, one of 1,700 in the United States,” says the alliance’s director, Steve Fleegal. “We cover most of central and southeast Ohio, with a focus on maintaining and improving water quality in four areas: the Scioto River, Big Darby Creek, the Hocking River, and Hocking Hills.”

It’s not the group’s only focus, of course; the group also works to preserve Native American sites, cultural heritage sites, historic farms, and geologic features across the region.

To get a feel for AOA, I tagged along on one of the organization’s many annual educational events open to the public. The field trip attracted some 30 people to Cedar Bog Nature Preserve, a few miles south of Urbana. It’s the oldest nature preserve in the Buckeye State purchased with state funds (in 1942), and is owned, operated, and managed by the Ohio History Connection.

I had an added incentive for attending the leisurely guided hike along the mile-long boardwalk that spans the bog. I’d always wanted to photograph one of Ohio’s rarest and most spectacular spring wildflowers: the showy lady’s slipper orchid, which blooms in late May and early June. Cedar Bog did not disappoint.

Other annual AOA nature-based field trips — some 25 or so per year — include spring birding hikes, summer creek explorations, and fall Monarch butterfly tagging. One of their more popular mid-summer events is always the canoe and kayak float down a state scenic river, where participants make frequent stops along the route to seine fish and other aquatic critters, which are identified and released.

“The goal of our field trips is to get people out onto the land to enjoy our properties,” Fleegal says. “After all, we’re conserving these sites for public benefit. And kids are always welcome.”

The alliance also hosts two dozen or so yearly “stewardship events” — hands-on, get-grubby work details where volunteers improve AOA preserves. Volunteers work to eradicate invasive non-native plants such as Japanese honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, tree of heaven, autumn olive, and garlic mustard. They also conduct controlled burns to maintain prairie openings, plant native tree seedlings, and reintroduce declining wildflower species such as yellow lady slipper orchids and forest medicinal plants to their former habitats.

One of AOA’s largest ongoing projects is the acquisition of Bison Hollow Preserve in the Hocking Hills region. Located south of Ash Cave at Hocking Hills State Park, Bison Hollow straddles the Hocking-Vinton county line and, according to Ken Mettler, an AOA board member, is an important component of AOA’s Greater Hocking Hills Conservation Initiative. “The total area protected is now over 660 acres.”

Whether you’re looking for a fun, safe field trip for you and your family, or you’re ready to volunteer and get your hands dirty for conservation, Appalachia Ohio Alliance is a worthwhile organization with a proven track record spanning two decades. Their members make a difference for Ohio’s outdoor future. To get involved, go to www.appalachiaohioalliance.org.

By the numbers

During its 20 years of existence, Appalachia Ohio Alliance has totaled an impressive list of accomplishments. Among them:

15,000+ Number of acres conserved
164 Number of properties conserved
32 Number of conservation preserves
19 Number of Ohio counties involved

Tags

Hocking Hills

Hocking Hills State Park

environment

conservation

Adapting to meet your needs

sbradford — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 13:03:44 +0000

Adapting to meet your needs

November 1, 2022

Pat O'Loughlin

Up Front

Our mission to provide you with a reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible supply of electricity is an ever-evolving job. For example, our investment in environmental control equipment at Cardinal Plant over the years has made our waste streams cleaner than ever. It also has allowed us to beneficially re-use the combustion byproducts from our coal-fired generation facilities in a variety of useful ways. We are adapting our processes to keep costs down and reduce our environmental impacts, saving money and providing useful materials to other industries — a real win-win. I hope you’ll read the article on page 4 of the November magazine to learn more.

Meanwhile, lack of investment, onerous federal regulations, and global conflict continue to strain our energy industries. Supplies of natural gas, oil, coal, and other energy sources remain tight. These factors result in cost pressures on not only electricity generation, but all forms of energy that we need in our daily lives.

Your electric cooperative continues to work to keep costs down, employ innovative ideas in work processes, and support policies that result in keeping a reliable supply of energy available to our homes and businesses.

As Thanksgiving approaches later this month, I want to thank you for your continued patronage of and support for your electric cooperative. We exist to have a positive impact on the communities we serve, but our strength comes from our unity of purpose and from your support for what we do.

Wishing you all a happy and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

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Cardinal Power Plant

power generation

environment

Emissions admissions

sbradford — Wed, 27 Oct 2021 19:40:11 +0000

Emissions admissions

November 1, 2021

Pat O'Loughlin

Up Front

There is a lot of discussion taking place on what to do about carbon emissions. In fact, Congress is actively considering proposals that would require dramatic reductions from the electric power sector over the next 10 years. The Biden administration has endorsed a “carbon-free by 2035” goal for electricity production.

Since 2005, carbon emissions from U.S. electricity production have been reduced by more than 30%, while other sources of emissions in the U.S. have remained relatively unchanged — and global emissions have continued to increase. That dramatic reduction has been the result of increased use of high-efficiency natural gas power plants and increasing contributions from renewable sources like wind and solar. Electricity production will continue to get cleaner and greener over the next several years.

At the same time, however, we need to be careful not to let aspirational goals like “carbon-free by 2035” impose arbitrary limits on our ability to maintain a reliable and affordable supply of electricity. Just in the past 12 months, we have seen grid failures in Texas and in California that resulted in tragic loss of life and destruction of property. Those failures were both predictable and avoidable as changes to the electric power infrastructure went too far, too fast. Making our power system work reliably, especially during periods of extreme weather, remains the highest priority for Buckeye Power and the entire electric power industry.

Ohio’s electric cooperatives remain committed to doing what we can to keep your supply of electricity reliable, affordable, and always available — and to do so in an environmentally responsible manner. Electric co-ops continue to drive innovation across the electric sector with community solar arrays; advanced metering; demand response; battery storage; carbon capture, use, and storage; and by replacing direct fossil fuel use with lower-emitting electrification. We will support commonsense policies that help accomplish those goals — but will resist arbitrary or unrealistic constraints that negatively affect our members and our communities.

As we gather to express our gratitude for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us this Thanksgiving Day, please know your electric cooperative appreciates the opportunity to serve you today and every day.

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renewable energy

solar power

environment

Harnessing the sun

sbradford — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 16:55:58 +0000

Harnessing the sun

October 1, 2021

Jeff McCallister

Power Lines

Buckeye Power, the generation and transmission cooperative that provides electricity to Ohio’s 24 electric cooperatives, produces safe, affordable, and reliable power using an all-of-the-above generation strategy.

Since electricity can be generated in many ways, it makes sense to make use of any or all of them to produce the power that turns the lights on for the 400,000 Ohio co-op consumer-member households, farms, and businesses.

Each potential generating resource — coal plants, solar panels, hydropower facilities, etc. — produces power at a different level of reliability, environmental impact, and cost, so the trick is to balance each factor in the generation mix to produce electricity in the safest, cleanest, most economical, and most reliable way possible.

That’s already a complicated task, because some of those factors tend to be at odds with one another. In recent times, another factor has added another twist to those generation decisions: consumer attitudes.

“I think it’s important to know that I’m doing as much as I can to support green energy,” says Tom Kagy, a member of North Baltimore-based Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative. Kagy, a retired insurance agent who also serves on Hancock-Wood’s board of trustees, was one of the first members to put in his subscription application for the cooperative’s community solar program, OurSolar.

Greening the grid

Buckeye Power introduced OurSolar in 2017, recognizing the interest that cooperative consumer-members around the state had in cleaner options for their energy consumption. That initial program was popular enough — Hancock-Wood, for example, sold all its available subscriptions in the first 10 days they were available — that the company now plans to expand the program over the next year.

In the first phase, Buckeye Power built 23 smaller arrays located in communities served by electric cooperatives around the state. Those panels produce a total of about 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity when at full output in sunny conditions. The second phase, currently in the planning stages, will add another 2 MW of production capacity — this time from a single 15-acre solar field near North Baltimore.

In comparison, the coal-fired units 2 and 3 at the Cardinal Plant, the aces of Buckeye Power’s deck of generation sources, together produce about 1,200 MW and are designed to generate electricity 24 hours a day.

Incremental change

“We still rely on coal to handle the majority of our generation needs, but we are excited to make incremental additions of other resources,” says Ben Wilson, Buckeye Power’s manager of power delivery engineering. “Solar, today, doesn’t save money for us or our members. If it were cheaper than producing power at Cardinal and we had an economical way to store the energy for those times when the sun isn’t shining, we might have to rethink our long-term generation strategy, but it’s not there yet.”

So even while it doesn’t make economic sense to build hundreds of megawatts worth of solar panels now, other factors mean that increasing solar production incrementally, at smaller levels, does.

“Right now, what we’re doing is a voluntary effort to introduce more renewable energy to our portfolio in a way that doesn’t increase overall costs, but still satisfies the demand we have from some members who want to have more renewable energy in their supply,” says Craig Grooms, Buckeye Power’s vice president of engineering and operations.

‘Energy accounting’

When energy enters the electric grid, there’s no way to distinguish solar energy from that generated by coal. Electric providers can’t send solar-generated electrons to one member’s house and those generated by coal to another.

“It’s essentially a matter of energy accounting,” Grooms says. “We put energy on the grid, measure it, and get paid for it. Consumers use electricity from the grid, have a meter that measures it, and they’re charged for that amount. In that equation, you can’t tell where it comes from.”

What providers like Buckeye Power can do, however, is to adjust the percentage of energy from different sources that’s put out onto the grid — when the sun is shining, for example, more can come from solar panels; when it’s dark or cloudy, more must come from coal.

As opposed to individually purchased rooftop panels, which require a substantial up-front investment from a consumer — an investment that usually is financed at payments much larger than most electric bills — the OurSolar program lets consumer-members pay a small premium on their electric bill to assure that a larger percentage of energy on the grid comes from solar panels.

“OurSolar opens the benefits of solar generation to anyone who receives an electric bill, including lower-income residents, businesses, municipalities, schools, and nonprofits,” says Pat O’Loughlin, president and CEO of Buckeye Power. “It gives members a lower-cost, more convenient option, compared to on-site solar.”

The subscription question

Individual cooperatives offer the opportunity for their members to participate in the OurSolar program in different ways. Some offer subscriptions that can be purchased by individual members, others provide it as a resource to all members. There’s no clear-cut “best” way to increase solar energy production; those decisions — like all co-op decisions — are made by local boards and management on behalf of and in the best interests of the membership.

Ultimately, the program reflects the cooperatives’ dedication to their most important objective.

“Ohio’s electric cooperatives will not waiver from our mission to supply affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible power to our members,” O’Loughlin says. “Our decisions regarding the generation sources and the integration of renewable energy now and into the future can’t consider only one or two of those objectives; they have to meet all three.”

Percentage of Buckeye Power’s renewable generation from various sources

Ohio’s co-ops take a balanced approach to renewable energy. While continuing to support and utilize affordable coal-fired generation for the bulk of their power, Buckeye Power and its member cooperatives have made significant investments in renewable energy on behalf of Ohio co-op families.

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Sunny side up

sbradford — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 16:42:43 +0000

Sunny side up

October 1, 2021

Pat O'Loughlin

Up Front

As summer has ended and autumn is upon us, your electric cooperatives are making plans for next year.

Ohio’s 24 electric cooperatives use a diverse mix of fuel sources — coal, gas, solar, hydro, and biomass — to produce what has proven to be a resilient, reliable, and affordable supply of electricity in an environmentally responsible manner. We also recognize the increasing role that renewable resources play in the nation’s power grid. Solar-generated energy, particularly in this part of the country, is a hot topic.

In 2017, Ohio’s electric cooperative network launched the OurSolar statewide initiative that developed 23 community solar projects across the state. In total, the arrays can provide up to 2 megawatts of renewable energy, under ideal conditions. Consumer-member response to the new community-based solar farms and solar power subscription opportunities was clearly supportive. Panels available for subscription at many participating co-ops sold out almost immediately.

We’ve learned a lot from the OurSolar project operations over the past couple of years and are making changes to improve the cost and the output of our next project. Check out our “Harnessing the sun” article on page 4 for an update.

As anyone who’s lived through an Ohio winter or spring knows, we can’t depend strictly on solar-generated power — it simply isn’t reliable enough to meet our needs. However, our approach of providing community solar is a less expensive and more convenient method for our consumer-members to choose a lower-emitting, more renewable-based energy supply. We’ll continue to learn more from the project and adapt our supply mix to meet your needs.

Hope you enjoy a happy Halloween — fewer tricks, more treats.

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Cleaner coal

sbradford — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 17:12:33 +0000

Cleaner coal

August 31, 2021

Jodi Borger

Power Lines

Years ago, if you drove past Cardinal Power Plant, you likely saw a gray cloud emerging from the towers — that color was caused by fly ash and a few other various byproducts of burning coal.

Today, the billowing cloud is pure white and nearly all water vapor. It’s a clearly visible indicator of the investments Buckeye Power has made in emissions control equipment, making Cardinal Power Plant one of the cleanest power plants of its kind in the world.

Located along the Ohio River in Brilliant, Ohio, Cardinal is Buckeye Power’s baseload source for power generation, meaning it supplies Ohio’s 25 electric cooperatives with electricity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s also a main economic driver in the region, providing more than 300 jobs. The coal-fired plant consists of three units: one owned by AEP and two owned by Buckeye Power. All are managed by Buckeye Power.

Good stewards

Becoming a clean plant didn’t happen overnight, but Buckeye Power, Cardinal, and Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives are dedicated to providing affordable electricity that’s as environmentally responsible as possible. Years of investment, monitoring, and adapting to changing regulations and requirements brought Cardinal to where it is today and ensures that it can produce electricity for years to come.

“We want this plant to survive, and we want it to remain one of the cleanest power plants in the world,” says Bethany Schunn, Cardinal Operating Company’s plant manager. “We believe we play an important role in keeping the grid reliable and electricity affordable.”

The environmental affairs department at OEC constantly monitors and reports data to ensure that the plant complies with or even exceeds environmental standards and regulations. “We work individually and with other utilities, along with Ohio EPA, to find common-sense compliance approaches that protect the environment and are in the best interests of our members,” says Caitlin Schiebel, OEC’s director of environmental affairs.

Reducing emissions

One of the first controls to be implemented on all three units at Cardinal was electrostatic precipitators, which remove the fly ash from the exhaust gas stream. Fly ash from burning coal now passes through electrically charged plates, which pull the ash particles out of the stream. When the plates are full, the fly ash is moved to a hopper at the bottom of the plate. The process removes more than 99% of the fly ash particles produced by burning coal.

In the early 2000s, Buckeye Power and AEP added equipment that works much the same way in which an automobile’s catalytic converter removes nitrogen oxide (NOx) from engine exhaust — thereby reducing Cardinal’s NOx emissions by about 90%.

Around 2010, Cardinal began attacking another coal-burning byproduct, sulfur dioxide (SO2), which contributed to acid rain. Known as scrubbers, the system is actually a large tank containing a mixture of limestone and water, and it removes over 98% of SO2 from the plant’s emissions. The process to remove SO2 is like blowing bubbles through a straw. The gases are sent to the bottom of the limestone slurry, and as it bubbles up, the calcium in the limestone reacts with the SO2 to form water and gypsum, which is recycled and sold to wallboard companies.

“With that process, not only do we eliminate nearly all sulfur dioxide from our emissions,” Schunn says, “but we can make a little money by selling the gypsum and avoid disposing of it in our landfill.”

Mission control

Gas emissions are continuously monitored by an automated mission control system, which helps ensure compliance with clean air requirements for SO2, NOx, and carbon dioxide emissions.

“We have systems in place that measure air emissions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we complete daily and weekly inspections of Cardinal’s facilities,” Schiebel says. “We submit reports on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis that certify our compliance with regulations.”

Depending on the political landscape, environmental regulations continue to get stricter, and at the same time, technology continues to improve — which combine to constantly set new benchmarks for Buckeye Power to reach. Regardless, plant operators stay transparent.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a small thing or a big environmental issue — we make sure to list everything that happens here,” says Schunn. “We share those events each month to help make ourselves even better.”

Cost of doing business

Ohio electric cooperatives have invested more than $1 billion of their members’ money over the past 20 years in systems that minimize Cardinal Plant’s environmental impact.

The cooperatives collaborated in the 1960s to build the plant to provide electricity to their members and have made constant, consistent investments in the years since to ensure that Cardinal can reliably provide that power in an environmentally responsible way.

“It’s extremely important for the co-ops to make sure that their members’ investment isn’t wasted,” says Pat O’Loughlin, CEO of Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives. “That’s why we need to make sure we do everything we can to keep our largest and most valuable asset doing its job until that investment is paid in full.”

Buckeye Power has been working to pay down the debt more quickly in recent years so that it can invest in other power sources — including renewables — as they become cost-effective.

Tags

Cardinal Power Plant

environment

Reality check

hgraffice — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:38:34 +0000

Reality check

April 28, 2016

Pat O'Loughlin

Up Front

Sometimes our perceptions become skewed by what we hear or read in the news. Headlines often emphasize problems and concerns but rarely celebrate the slow, constant progress made by business or industry. We often need a reality check, or an opportunity to look at the facts and adjust our perception. I hope you’ll take a few moments to look at the electric power industry as I see it.

Production of U.S. electric power is cleaner than it’s ever been, by a lot. Sounds like a bold claim, but it’s true by every measure. Since 1990, emissions of regulated pollutants from the production of electricity have steadily decreased. Depending on the factors measured, we produce one-third more electricity today, with 65 percent to 80 percent lower emissions, as compared to 1990. That’s correct — in 2015, we produced about one-third more electricity than we did a quarter of a century earlier, with far fewer emissions.

You might wonder how we did it. Like many accomplishments, the reduction of emissions is the result of hard, concentrated effort. The technology used to scrub pollutants from power plant smoke stacks has improved dramatically throughout the past 25 years. Coal-burning power plant efficiencies have been enhanced, which typically reduces emissions by about 90 percent. Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives have been at the forefront of the charge.

New supplies from shale formations have made natural gas more available and less expensive. As a result, some older, coal-fired plants have been replaced by new, cleaner-burning natural gas-fired power plants. In fact, it is expected that in 2016, we’ll produce more electricity from natural gas than from coal. That’s a first. As recently as 2005, more than half of the electricity produced in the U.S. was from coal. Today, that figure stands at about 33 percent.

Renewable energy sources have been on the rise, as well. As of 2015, hydropower has remained at about six percent of U.S. power generation, while electric production from wind and solar power sources has grown from about two percent to more than eight percent of the nation’s total. Ohio’s electric cooperatives have been regularly adding renewable energy sources, too.

Regardless of what you may have heard, facts are facts. The U.S. electric power system remains the envy of the world. The powerful combination of safe, reliable delivery and clean, affordable production makes our electric power system world-class. That fact may not make headlines, but it’s good news for those of us who use electricity every day.

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Introducing the OurSolar program

hgraffice — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:30:50 +0000

Introducing the OurSolar program

May 26, 2016

Pat O'Loughlin

Up Front

Later this year, you’ll see Ohio’s electric cooperatives’ latest power generation project spring up, along with the OurSolar logo. We plan to install community solar projects in several locations around the state.

Ohio’s electric cooperatives have long supported an “all of the above” approach to power generation. We rely on traditional fossil fuel sources, such as coal and natural gas, for most of your power supply. Our generation mix also includes a diverse and growing set of renewable energy sources. Today, your cooperative receives power generated by hydroelectric facilities at Niagara Falls; wind turbines in Iowa; agricultural biodigesters; and Ohio landfills that collect methane. This year, we’ll begin to add solar-generated power to our mix.

We’ll install U.S.-manufactured solar photovoltaic panels at several cooperative locations. The OurSolar project offers solar power generation on a community basis, rather than on individual member rooftops. The community solar project approach not only reduces the cost of the project through economy of scale, but also avoids the headaches of home maintenance that rooftop solar systems can bring.

In total, we plan to add approximately one percent to our generation capacity through the OurSolar initiative. While the power generated by the project will cost more than our traditional sources, overall cost should remain relatively fixed over the expected 20-year life of the system, because it’s fueled by sunshine.

As those who live in Ohio are uniquely aware, during much of the year, solar power’s potential is somewhat limited by shorter daylight hours and cloudy skies. Over the years, however, we’ve learned that solar power provides an energy source that better matches your usage pattern, as opposed to power generated by wind.

Unfortunately, our wind turbines consistently produce twice as much power at night as during the day, while you use twice as much power during the day than you do at night. That’s a difficult problem to overcome.

Your electric cooperative will continue to work for you, providing a reliable, affordable, clean, and safe supply of electricity, both day and night.

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