Palo Alto Gets Feed-in Tariff for Photovoltaics
A unanimous vote made by the Palo Alto City Council on March 5 has given the city a feed-in tariff for photovoltaic installations. The Clean Local Energy Accessible Now (CLEAN) program is a pilot program for the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU).
The first year will be capped at 4 megawatts and designed for medium-sized commercial rooftops with a minimum size of 100 kilowatts per installation, where the city will pay $0.14 per kilowatt-hour for 20-year contracts, 13.216 ¢/kWh on a 15-year contract, and 12.360 ¢/kWh on a 10-year contract.
Applications will be considered from April 2 this year, with contracts being awarded by the end of each month, starting on May 1.
Craig Lewis, the Director of the Clean Coalition commented that he saw this as “a good program, because it is constrained and not open to residential rooftops,” adding that “it delivers the trifecta of being cost-effective, timely, and environmentally sustainable, and the pilot program is designed for success by avoiding pitfalls like dealing with tax complications of residential-level projects.”
Lewis added: “There are dozens of places around the United States developing CLEAN programs, and Palo Alto just set the stage for this critical movement to unleash Clean Local Energy Accessible Now.”
For those wanting to find out more about Palo Alto CLEAN, head on over to the City of Palo Alto’s feed-in tariff page outlining the description of the program, application information and general contact info.
Image Source: Brian Sterling
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