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Shane Steele, the city’s sustainability coordinator, came before the Grand Marais Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Wednesday, April 7, to discuss adding more solar generation to the city’s current load.
Under an agreement with Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency (SMMPA), each member can install a limited amount of solar for their special buyback rate. The City of Grand Marais has an allotment of 65kW (AC), said Steele, adding that 43.2kW has been used for the rooftop installation of solar panels on the public works building. Steele proposed that the city fill the allotment by adding an additional 20kW on a strip of unused land north of the public works garage parking lot, just inside the security fence.
When bids were let for the project, six were received, and two were selected to submit final proposals. The finalists were Shem Falter of Peak Electric in Lutsen, and Doug Manthey of Energy Plus in Duluth.
Both bids were similar in price, with Shem being a little less than the Duluth bidder. Tracy Benson said that all things being equal, she would prefer to hire the local company. Craig Schulte agreed with her, and City Administrator Mike Roth added that it would be nice to call on a local contractor if something were to go wrong.
PUC Chair Anne Possis called for a motion: Benson motioned to hire Peak Electric, there was a second from Schulte, and Possis cast the final vote.
The cost of the project is $60,790. Administrator Roth said the funds were in the electric budget and would not be taken from the city’s general fund.
Next, Steele talked about having two electric vehicle charging stations installed in the back corner of the city’s parking lot. The electric vehicle supply equipment (or EVSE) is being provided by SMMPA to expand EV charging power in their territory. Grand Marais was given two 23kW L2 chargers and one 50K DCFC. A DCFC charger and an L2 charger will be installed this spring on the south side of the City Hall parking lot. The city is looking for another location to install the second L2 charger. City employees, Jeff Eliasen and Matt Groniskowski, will install the chargers, and the city will be responsible for maintaining them.
It will cost about $14 for a vehicle to be charged from the fast charger and $12 for the slow (2-3 hours) charger. Fees will be collected through a network connection through ZEF’s online portal: ZETNet, which is connected to ChargeHub, which will allow the city staff to control energy output and set up the payment system. Shane Steele said there would also be a credit card machine similar to those found at self-serve gas pumps.
Roth was asked if the city would make money from this service, and he responded that because these were so new, it was hard to analyze income or loss. However, he surmised that the city would neither make money nor lose much if any money, adding it was “kind of a pilot program for us.”
Shane said the city could adjust rates at any time through ZEFNet, so prices could be changed as the city learns how these chargers are being utilized.
Roth gave an update about the recent history of the city’s new load control system and the surcharge added to bills for customers with non-functioning load control receivers who hadn’t made contact with the city. The commission decided to refund one-half of the surcharge and has begun efforts to complete installations of the new load control receivers (LCRs).
So far, Roth said the city has 120 customers on a load control rate, either off-peak or dual fuel.
As of the end of March, the city had installed new LCRs for 71 customers and 18 customers had contacted the city and were scheduled for installations.
As the program develops, load control will help customers save money and help the city meet its climate action plan.Roth said as a follow-up to Grand Marais’ recent rate study, off-peak and fuel rates will be evaluated to ensure they result in adequate system savings and that the program is attractive to customers.
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