Tribal Utility Feasibility Study
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Yurok Tribe Final Report Presented to U.S. Department of Energy Tribal Energy Program Award #DE-FG36-03GO13117 Project Officer: Lizana Pierce Tribal Utility [email protected] Prepared by: Feasibility Study Schatz Energy Research Center Humboldt State University June 2007 Arcata, CA 95521 Technical Contact: James Zoellick [email protected] Project Data Project Title: Tribal Utility Feasibility Study Covering Period: February 3, 2006 – June 30, 2007 Date of Report: June 30, 2007 Recipient Organization: Yurok Tribe Award Number: DE-FG36-03GO13117 Partners: Yurok Tribe, Schatz Energy Research Center Technical Contact: Schatz Energy Research Center Richard Engel, Research Engineer Jim Zoellick, Senior Research Engineer Humboldt State University Arcata, CA 95521-8299 (707) 826-4345 Richard Engel’s email: [email protected] Jim Zoellick’s email: [email protected] Business Contact: Yurok Tribe 190 Klamath Blvd Klamath, CA 95548 (707) 482-1350 Dustin Jolley, Engineer (707) 482-1350 ext. 357 [email protected] DOE Project Officer: Lizana K. Pierce, [email protected] Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................ 2 Project Background and Overview .................................................................................. 4 Project Goal .................................................................................................................... 6 Literature Review............................................................................................................ 7 Description of Activities Performed Inventory of Renewable Energy Resources............................................................. 8 Creation of a Yurok Energy Geographic Information System (YEGIS).......... 9 Solar Energy................................................................................................ 10 Wind Energy................................................................................................ 16 Biomass Energy........................................................................................... 24 Hydroelectric Energy................................................................................... 29 Making Renewable/Distributed Energy Systems Available................................... 42 Providing Maintenance and Repair to Renewable Energy Systems ....................... 55 Providing Energy Efficiency Services to Homes and Businesses .......................... 57 Opportunities to Aggregate Electric Accounts ...................................................... 63 Opportunities to Generate Revenue with Renewable Energy................................. 66 Billing for Energy Services Provided By Tribe..................................................... 71 Incorporating Energy Services into the Tribal PUD .............................................. 74 Funding and Financing Resources ........................................................................ 79 Strategic Energy Plan.................................................................................................... 85 Conclusions and Recommendations .............................................................................. 87 Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 90 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 93 Figures Figure 1. Solar Energy Potential in California (NREL, May 2004) ................................ 11 Figure 2. Notchko Remote Automated Weather Station, Yurok Reservation.................. 12 Figure 3. Location of Solar Monitoring Sites Relative to Yurok Reservation................. 13 Figure 4. Average Daily Solar Insolation for Sites Near the Yurok Reservation............. 14 Figure 5. Example Solar Access Diagram Using a SolarPathfinder................................ 15 Figure 6. Wind Speed Classes in the Vicinity of the Yurok Reservation ........................ 18 Figure 7. Wind Speed Potential in the Vicinity of the Yurok Reservation...................... 19 Figure 8. Wind Monitoring Stations in Vicinity of the Yurok Reservation..................... 20 Figure 9. Mean Monthly Wind Speeds from Selected Sites ........................................... 21 Figure 10. Mean Hourly Wind Speeds from Selected Sites............................................ 21 Figure 11. Wind Speed Frequency Distribution for Horse Mountain.............................. 22 Figure 12. Wind Speed Frequency Distribution for Smith River Hills............................ 22 Figure 13. Wind Speed Frequency Distribution for Kneeland Prairie............................. 23 Figure 14. Notchko Average Monthly Wind Speed ....................................................... 23 Figure 15. Biomass Resources Available in California. ................................................. 25 Figure 16. Land Ownership On and Adjacent to the Yurok Reservation ........................ 26 Figure 17. Yurok Creeks Ranked by Basin Area............................................................ 32 Figure 18. Yurok Creeks Ranked by Peak Flow ............................................................ 33 Figure 19. Yurok Creeks Ranked by Stream Gradient.................................................... 34 Figure 20. Yurok Creeks Ranked by Potential Head ...................................................... 35 Figure 21. Yurok Creeks Ranked by Rainfall ................................................................ 36 Figure 22. Sample Map Showing Parameters Used in GIS Watershed Analysis............. 38 Tables Table 1. Overview of Renewable Energy Resources on Yurok Reservation..................... 9 Table 2. Wind Data from Sites Near the Yurok Reservation .......................................... 20 Table 3. Estimated Biomass Energy Potential on Yurok Reservation............................. 29 Table 4 Creeks on Yurok Reservation Ranked by Multiple Criteria............................... 31 Table 5. Broad Estimates of Power and Energy Potential On Yurok Streams................. 39 Table 6. Single Day Low Flow Estimates...................................................................... 39 Table 7. Economic Incentives for the Installation of Renewable Energy Systems .......... 44 Table 8. California Solar Initiative Incentives................................................................ 45 Table 9. Off-Grid Renewable Energy System Equipment and Installation Cost ............. 49 Table 10. Monthly Cost to Customer Vs. Cost Recovery by Tribe................................. 50 Table 11. Annual Labor Hours for Renewable Energy Program Staff............................ 51 Table 12. Maintenance Program Options....................................................................... 56 Table 13. Renewable Energy Use and Green Tag Status................................................ 70 Table 14. Yurok PUD Water Systems ........................................................................... 76 Yurok Tribe Tribal Utility Feasibility Study June 2007 Acknowledgements The Schatz Energy Research Center would like to thank the Yurok Tribe for their assistance in preparing this report. Especially helpful were: • Richard Myers, Tribal Council • Dustin Jolley, Tribal Engineer • Peggy O’Neill, Planning Director • Micah Gibson and Monica Hiner, Tribal Environmental Program • Doris Timm, Director of the Fiscal Department • Sandra Lowry and Jonathan Jackson, Yurok Indian Housing Authority • Tony O’Rourke and Elaina Supahan, GIS Specialists • Robert Nulph, Public Utility District • Dan Gale, Fisheries • Ron Reed, Forestry 1 Yurok Tribe Tribal Utility Feasibility Study June 2007 Executive Summary The Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC) assisted the Yurok Tribe in investigating the feasibility of creating a permanent energy services program for the Tribe. The original purpose of the DOE grant that funded this project was to determine the feasibility of creating a full-blown Yurok Tribal electric utility to buy and sell electric power and own and maintain all electric power infrastructure on the Reservation. The original project consultant found this opportunity to be infeasible for the Tribe. When SERC took over as project consultant, we took a different approach. We explored opportunities for the Tribe to develop its own renewable energy resources for use on the Reservation and/or off- Reservation sales as a means of generating revenue for the Tribe. We also looked at ways the Tribe can provide energy services to its members and how to fund such efforts. We identified opportunities for the development of renewable energy resources and energy services on the Yurok Reservation that fall into five basic categories: • Demand-side management – This refers to efforts to reduce energy use through energy efficiency and conservation measures. • Off-grid, facility and household scale renewable energy systems – These systems can provide electricity to individual homes and Tribal facilities in areas of the Reservation that do not currently have access to the electric utility grid. • Village scale, micro-grid renewable energy systems - These are larger scale systems that can provide electricity to interconnected groups of homes and Tribal facilities in areas of the Reservation