With the cost of powering a house steadily increasing, the Ames electric utility group recently took steps that may help people reduce their utility bills and encourage the use of environmentally friendly energy.

On March 25, the Ames City Council approved an interconnection agreement that will allow Ames utility customers to install alternative energy resources, such as solar panels and wind turbines, on their property. After purchasing the pricey equipment necessary for alternative-energy collection, residents can then connect to the local energy grid with a special meter and assistance from electrical services and begin collecting clean energy up to a total of 10 kilowatts.

“Basically, any energy that you generate on your own makes the meter run backwards,” said Lyndon Cook, electrical engineering manager for Ames electric services. “The customer then receives credits for how much energy they generate, which they can use instead of paying for more electricity.”

For example, if a home or building was supplied with 500 kilowatt-hours of energy, but only 300 kilowatt-hours were used, the smaller amount is billed to the building.

The only requirements to enter the program are the purchase of the energy-providing system, then contacting the city’s electrical services to register for the program.

“We need to be sure the system is safe,” said Steve Wilson, energy services coordinator. “We work with the customer to help them connect to the system.”

Aside from purchasing and maintaining the system, which is the customer’s responsibility, there will be limited costs associated with the system.

“Right now, customers already pay service costs for meter reading and upkeep, so I doubt the additional costs will be too much,” Wilson said.

Solar cells and wind turbines are the obvious choices for use in a home system, but Cook said customers have the option of setting up whatever system they prefer.

“The agreement was written broadly enough to include any renewable source that isn’t powered by fossil fuels, so diesel generators are out,” he said.

There is already one location getting ready to outfit its property to boost generation: The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames, 1015 N. Hyland Ave. Janet McKee, a member of the church, first heard about the proposed agreement a year ago and has been stirring up interest ever since they got word of the opportunity.

“This is the best sort of agreement you can have with the city,” she said. “We were the impetus of developing this agreement, but it is applicable to any customer in Ames.”

McKee said her church’s planned setup, between seven and 12 solar panels, required some additional funding.

“The panels that we are using provide 180 watts, and each panel is a thousand dollars,” she said.

Wilson said the likelihood of a person generating more energy than they consume in a month is unlikely, but the addition of alternative energy systems will undoubtedly help trim energy bills.

“Doing some sample calculations, an average-sized system would generate around 240 kWh per month in the summer. The average home uses about 650 kWh a month, and in the summer, that usually jumps up to around 900,” he said. “It will lower your bill, but a smaller system is not going to generate more than a house will use.”

Cook expanded on his calculations by describing what the system was designed for.

“We’re envisioning pretty consistent loads, so we anticipate that customers will use up their credits each month,” he said.

Questions have been raised about the credits being given out. At the City Council meeting, Ames resident Al Joensen voiced his concern.

“The way the ordinance reads, if you generate more than you need, you get the same credit rate that you were paying when you used,” he said. “The argument I have is that whoever has a generation system is getting credit for distribution costs as well.”

Joensen elaborated with an example.

“Let’s say you pay 7 cents per kilowatt-hour. The last figure I heard for generating costs is 3.1 cents per kilowatt-hour,” he said. “That means that people get a credit of 4 cents per kilowatt-hour when people put power into the system.”

Wilson acknowledged Joensen’s complaint and said he was correct – rate-payers would be paying the differential. However, that is already being addressed.

“This agreement was made because we had a customer ready to install a system now,” he said. “This is a placeholder, and as people start increasing kilowatt limits, and as we look at rates, this will probably change in the future. We’re coming back to look at this.”

Wilson said people who plan on generating more than they use just for the credit would lose whatever they gain, because the credits are only kept for 12 months and then erased.

“We don’t anticipate a system to ever generate more than they’ll use,” he said.

Wilson is excited that people are beginning to take interest in the technology of clean energy.

“I’ve been here eight years, and I never received a call about ‘green’ home generation for the first seven,” Wilson said. “And in the last six months, I’ve gotten five. There’s been an exponential explosion of interest.”