Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/479431
26 CoNNECTICUT GREEN GUIDE • WinTer 2014 www.CTGreenGuide.com ware and lumber operation when Shagbark's controller, Julie Leonardo, found a way to make the numbers work. Leonardo cobbled together a low-cost state-subsi- dized Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C- PACE) loan with a renewable energy credit contract that commits CL&P to buying Shagbark's excess power. The result has been an instant success. Leonardo said the 540 solar panels mounted on the main build- ing have covered all the firm's power needs and allowed Shagbark to bank a 13,000 kilowatt hour credit since the project went live in July. Leonardo said Shagbark's energy costs are down about 80 percent. While Shagbark is energy independent today, Leon- ardo recognizes that come a snowy day in February, she may need to take power from the grid. She points out without an efficient grid, Shagbark would have no abil- ity to sell power back. That is an important component in the Shagbark plan. The Hunts are considering adding a solar farm on some of the acreage behind the store, on what was once a dairy farm. Providing low-cost power to the neighbors would be a nice extension of the Shagbark's commitment to its com- munity, Jody Hunt said. Another face of the new technol- ogy wave is Bruce Beck- er, whose Fairfield firm Becker & Becker is the force behind the cutting edge 360 State resi- dential complex in New Haven and the renovation of 777 Main in Hartford. Becker's business model includes the use of fuel cell technology to supply all the energy needs of the buildings, essentially making his building a utility unto itself and taking money away from UI. PURA is expected to rule on this submetering question by the end of the year. Individually, neither Shagbark or Becker is a threat to the utilities' business model, Serna said. "Through September, about 5,000 CL&P residential customers have added solar to their homes, out of the approximately 1 million residential customers we have," Serna said. Somebody has to pay for the expensive infrastructure — like the $3.7 billion NU is investing in trans- mission line upgrades — needed to import power to the Nutmeg State. Big Power Plants Nearly half of Connecticut's net electricity generation in 2013 came from the 2,103-megawatt millstone nuclear station. sourCe: u.s. enerGy inFormaTion ADmINISTRATIoN Green Tip: Be wary of leasing solar systems. Understand incentives go to the supplier, not the lessee. Developer Bruce Becker is in the fourth year of his battle with utility United Illuminating over his decision to put a fuel cell in his 360 State development in New Haven. PhoTo | hbJ File YESTERDAY Centralized Power TomorroW Clean, Local Power Transmission network Distribution network house Factory Commercial building Local ChP plant Storage Storage Storage Wind power plant house with domestic ChP Solar Pv power plant hBJ GRAPhIC | ChR!SToPhER WALLACE / SoURCE | INSTITUTE FoR LoCAL SELF-RELIANCE