Columbia residents explore renewable energy options

Efforts taken by the city hope to increase renewable energy to 5 percent.

By Elisa Essner

Published April 6, 2009

Columbia residents are slowly adopting a lifestyle that embraces the use of more renewable energies at home.

Last November, Missouri voters passed Proposition C, which sets a renewable energy standard for private utilities. The measure is similar to a renewable energy mandate passed in Columbia in 2004.

The mandate orders that Columbia Water and Light, the city's utility company, purchase increasing levels of energy from renewable resources. In 2008, the company reported its percentage of renewable energy at 1.7 percent.

Following the opening of Jefferson City's biogas plant last week, the predictions for 2009 should be on target at 5 percent, Water and Light spokeswoman Connie Kacprowicz said.

The company has established several new programs to encourage electric customers to invest in solar energy, according to the company's 2009 Renewable Energy Report.

"Customers can enter into a net-metering agreement with the city if they produce solar energy," Kacprowicz said.

Net-metering agreements track each customer's energy consumption or production within the Columbia system, and then bills or credits each customer for the net amount of electricity used over the month-long billing period.

There are two customers in Columbia making use of this service, Kacprowicz said, and installing the systems might be too expensive for most residents.

Water and Light also offers a one-time $500 per kilowatt rebate for qualifying solar energy systems. Customers who install a solar water heating system can qualify for up to $800 in rebates. Though initial interest has been slow, the company has awarded $2,600 in solar rebates and expects the program to become more popular as solar technology improves and becomes more cost-efficient, stated the report.

Mark Foecking, a research specialist for the MU veterinary pathobiology department, said he doubts the viability of such ambitious energy plans promoted by the city. He said true energy reform would only occur if citizens do it themselves.

Foecking designed and created an energy system for his home on Alexander Avenue that is 98 percent independent of the city's power grid. His solar system provides an average of 200 kilowatt hours per month.

"I have everything that a normal American family has," Foecking said in an e-mail.

Despite his personal commitment to "stepping more lightly on the earth," Foecking said he believes there are not enough incentives for average citizens to expend the time, effort or money to do likewise.

"Neighbors have asked me about my system, and they are uniformly put off when confronted with the cost," Foecking said, whose system cost about $18,000 and was installed over about two and a half years. Foecking said his system only delivers about a quarter of the energy needed to run an average Columbian home.

Columbia resident Mary Holt and her family have adopted various conservation behaviors like turning off lights and opening windows instead of running the air conditioner in order to reduce energy consumption in their home.

"My husband and I have been pleased with the effect such simple acts have had on our electric bill," Holt said, admitting their conservation was originally driven by economic, and not environmental, concerns.

Holt said she has recently become more interested in the idea of renewable energies, though she has not given much thought to adding a solar system in her own home. Holt said she might be encouraged to consider more extreme alternatives in the future, especially if they became more financially viable.

Foecking said it is cheapest to power private residences with traditional energy sources from the city's grid. But ongoing efforts in energy reform and the decreasing reliability of the grid may soon change this.

Sustain Mizzou President Pat Margherio said Missouri is about middle of the pack in the race to develop renewable energies.

"The state made a big leap with Proposition C, but we are still pretty far behind," he said. "There are definitely things we still can and still need to do."