Written by Administrator
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Summary: The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) provides incentives for eligible small wind systems. Incentive payments are not paid directly to the owner of the wind system. Instead, they are paid to eligible installers that have been approved to participate in this program, but the entire incentive must be passed on to the owner of the wind system by the eligible installer. NYSERDA has identified a total of 32 wind system models made by 15 different manufacturers as being eligible for the incentive. The eligible models range in size from 800 W to 250 kW. Each model is eligible for a different base incentive which can be increased or decreased depending on the height of the tower used for the system. Bergey Windpower's BWC XL.1, for example, has a base incentive of $4,000 at a suggested tower height of 80 feet. If the installed tower is shorter than 80 ft, the incentive is decreased by $30 for every foot decrease. Other wind system models have a different tower height adjustment factor which can be seen in the program details. All systems must be new and grid-connected. Equipment eligibility restrictions also exist for power inverters, monitoring equipment, and other system components. The actual incentive can also be adjusted depending on the classification of the wind system owner. Residential, business, institutional and governmental participants receive the standard incentive, adjusted accordingly for the tower height. Commercial farms, non-profits, municipalities and counties, however, can multiply their incentive by 1.2. Schools or colleges that include wind in their curriculum can multiply their incentive by a factor of 1.4. Conversely, customers that perform more than $2,000 worth of work on their project receive a multiplication factor of 0.75 and sites with multiple wind generators receive a 0.4 multiplier. Commercial farms must provide evidence that they have at least $10,000 of farm-related average gross sales, excluding any income from leasing land. Not-for-profits must show evidence that they have 501(c)(3) status. Any schools and colleges that include wind in their curriculum must demonstrate sufficient educational benefits to NYSERDA to qualify for the higher incentive level. Incentives are paid in two installments. Sixty-five percent (65%) of the incentive is paid after the equipment is delivered to the installation site and all required permits, approvals, certificates, etc. from all jurisdictions having authority are secured. The remaining thirty-five (35%) is paid when the wind system is grid-connected and approved by your utility. NYSERDA reserves the right to review any installation prior to final incentive payment being made. Incentives provided to customers under this program may not be combined with any other incentive programs offered by NYSERDA that are designed to directly offset the cost of a wind installation, with the exception of the New York Energy $mart Loan Fund. In addition NYSERDA will own any renewable energy credits or other environmental attributes associated with energy production from rebated systems for the first three years of system operation. *This program was originally funded at $1.5 million annually for 3 years (2007-2009) under the Customer-Sited Tier Operating Plan, for a total program budget of $4.5 million. However, funding was reduced by $1.4 million to $3.1 million in order to meet demand for the photovoltaic (PV) program in October 2008 by order of the PSC. According to the recent March 2009 RPS Program Evaluation Report from NYSERDA, subsequent reallocations have resulted in a revised budget of $2.07 million, of which $1.5 million remained as of January 31, 2009. |