REAP Success Story
REAP Success Story. I’m Greg Martin as Line On Agriculture presents the Harvest Clean Energy Report.
We spend a lot of time talking about the Renewable Energy for America Program or REAP. It provides assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to complete a variety of projects. We have talked to quite a number of people who are involved in large scale wind and solar projects but have not talked much about some of the smaller business projects like the Olympia Farmers Market solar project. The Farmers Market in Washington State’s Capital City attracts some 500,000 visitors during its nine month run and generates about $5 million in sales. They recently looked into a way to produce an alternate source of energy for the Market. Steve Wilcox, Director, Farmers Market Community Solar Project LLC, applied for a REAP grant of $20,000 to help purchase solar roof panels to be installed by Sunset Air on the Olympia Farmers Market. Borrower contribution was $178,750. Total project cost was $198,750. 192 solar panels manufactured in the state were installed by Sunset Air in June 2011. The panel are capable of producing 30 to 50 percent of the market’s electricity needs,. The solar panels produce energy which will reduce the electrical costs of the individual venders. When the market is not in operation, the market will be credited on its Puget Sound Energy power bill for the kilowatts generated. Investors in the LLC are also eligible for a 30 percent federal tax credit on their contribution to the project, as well as other green-energy tax incentives managed by the state Department of Revenue through 2020.
Another project was the Montesano Thriftway in Grays Harbor County wanted to replace their old lighting which dated back to 1963. They were looking for a newer and more energy efficient lighting system that would consume less energy and save money. This will save $5,804 annually and will have recovered their investment in less than three years. This lowers operating costs for the customer without sacrificing lighting.
For additional information on clean energy, visit harvestcleanenergy.org. That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.???www.harvestcleanenergy.org
