Orcas Power & Light: MORE Green Power Program

Orcas Power and Light (OPALCO), an electric cooperative serving Washington’s San Juan Islands, provides a production-based incentive for residential and commercial members who generate energy from photovoltaics, wind, micro-hydroelectric and other small-scale renewable energy sources. The Member Owned Renewable Energy (MORE) Program is OPALCO’s new green power program is funded by voluntary member donations to provide a production credit to local renewable member generators. 

Incentive payments will be paid per kilowatt hour (kWh) of production, with a rate based on the year in which the system is interconnects.

Interconnection Year	Established Rate per kWh
July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2012	$0.20
July 1, 2012 - June 20, 2013	$0.17
July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014	$0.14
July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015	$0.11

For systems which interconnect in subsequent years, the incentive will decrease by $0.03/kWh annually. The year upon which a Member Generator (MG) enters into the MORE program determines the incentive rate received for ten years. The maximum generation eligible per MG is 10,000 kWh for commercial members and 4,000 kWh for all others. Bonus payments of $0.10 kWh for systems which interconnect in 2011, 2012, and 2013 and will be applied for electricity produced through June 20, 2014.

To ensure funding, new applications will be halted once the total payouts from the fund for a given year equal or exceed 90% of the fund balance. The fund balance and payments will be reviewed by OPALCO on a quarterly basis. Each July, OPALCO will collect kWh production data from each MG participating in the MORE program, and make annual payments to eligible members.

Member-owned renewable generators applying to be tied to OPALCO’s system must be pre-approved by OPALCO through the interconnection application process prior to installation.