LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday gave unanimous approval to a power purchase agreement with Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District aimed at saving Lake County money.
Lake County Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger and Yolo Flood Assistant General Manager Max Stevenson presented the final version of the joint exercise of powers agreement to the board Tuesday.
Last month Coppinger and Stevenson had brought the idea behind the agreement to the board.
Yolo Flood, which holds the main water rights to Clear Lake, built Indian Valley Reservoir, which it operates along with a small hydroelectric power plant.
The plant generates more power than Yolo Flood can use, so it offered to sell the power to Lake County at a discounted rate.
The Board of Supervisors directed staff to work with Yolo Flood to come back with a proposal, which resulted in the document presented on Tuesday.
Coppinger explained that the power purchase will use a new net metering program from Pacific Gas and Electric – called the Renewable Energy Self-Generation Bill Credit Transfer – that allows government agencies to use generation of renewable power to offset power costs.
The guidelines allow for up to 50 meters to be identified and entered into the program, she said. When power isn’t used, it can be held over on a monthly basis.
A fee of $30 per month for each benefiting meter is required for tracking credits and usage, Coppinger said. There also is a one-time $500 fee to establish the account.
Coppinger said Yolo Flood has agreed to pay the one-time setup fee as well as half the monthly tracking fees, or $15 per meter.
She said the county will receive in the agreement a 7.5-percent discount over what PG&E costs.
Stevenson said Yolo Flood took data from Lake County power meters and ran it through the last 10 years of power production at the plant to calculate an average dollar benefit for the county under the contract.
He explained during the discussion that it comes out to an average benefit of $25,000 per year for Lake County and $90,000 for Yolo Flood. In some years, Lake County’s benefit is expected to top $100,000.
That high variability is due to some years having large amounts of water and others far less, he explained.
“We’re looking to have a pretty big year coming up,” Stevenson added, noting that Indian Valley Reservoir is still at 86 percent of its capacity.
On Tuesday, Indian Valley Reservoir had 260,304 acre feet of water in storage, according to Yolo Flood. That’s nearly four times the water it contained on the same date in 2016.
Supervisor Jim Steele asked about which of the county’s meters will be put into the program.
Stevenson said Coppinger gave Yolo Flood a list of 300 meters, and they chose the largest 50. “I wish we could do them all,” he added.
Coppinger said the county’s benefit will fluctuate based on factors like rain and how much power the plants can generate. But she said all participating meters will see a benefit.
Supervisor Tina Scott moved to approve the agreement, which the board approved 5-0.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Supervisors approve power purchase agreement with Yolo Flood
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On