Chelan County PUD: Sustainable Natural Alternative Power Producers Program
incentives for solar panels and wind turbines up to $1.50/kWh for systems at 25kWh or less.
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The Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP) program encourages customers to install alternative power generators such as solar panels and wind turbines and connect them to the District's electrical distribution system by offering an incentive payment based on the system's production. The amount paid per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to SNAP Producers is determined by dividing the total amount contributed by SNAP Purchasers through the utility's green pricing program, divided by the total electricity generated by all SNAP Producers. The greater the amount contributed by SNAP Purchasers, the greater the amount that will be distributed among participating SNAP Producers, up to a maximum of $1.50 per kWh. As a result, payment rates have varied over the course of the program as follows:
2002: $1.50/kWh
2003: $1.20/kWh
2004: $0.74/kWh
2005: $0.46/kWh
2006: $0.25/kWh
2007: $0.21/kWh
2008: $0.25/kWh
2009: $0.22/kWh
2010: $0.21/kWh
2011: $0.22/kWh
2012: $0.16/kWh
Systems up to 25 kilowatts (kW) are eligible for SNAP funds. SNAP is not intended for customers who want to install renewable energy sources for back-up power generation at their home or business. Under the SNAP program, each solar or wind power system has a dedicated utility-owned production meter that measures the total AC energy generated by the system. Once the renewable energy has been metered, it can either go directly to a utility transformer or connect to the customer's electrical distribution panel. If the measured power connects to the customer's distribution panel, the customer receives the additional benefit of net metering. If the output of the inverter is connected directly to the transformer, the customer does not receive any net metering benefit but does receive an additional payment for the wholesale value of 100% of the power they generate.
According to the program web site, the installed capacity as well as the number and types of SNAP Producers are as follows:
Number of SNAP producers
Schools: 26
Non-profit agencies: 8
Private producers: 14
SNAP renewables by type
Solar: 46
Wind: 2
Small Hydro: 1
Capacity (in kilowatts)
Solar: 104
Wind: 40
Small Hydro: 5
The SNAP model can be adopted by other utilities at no cost. Additional information is available on the SNAP web site.