SOLAR COMMUNITY
WELCOME TO
ST. GEORGE’S CAY POWER COMPANY
Welcome to our solar future!
SGCPC has a plan to move our community toward a more sustainable future using solar energy. This includes a majority of the solar electricity generated by SGCPC-owned systems plus small systems that may be owned and operated by Customers on their own premises. The solar systems owned by SGCPC will be a strategic growth plan designed to maintain reliability and stability while delivering the best financial performance for ALL Customers.
Utilities Regulation and Competition Authority (URCA) is responsible for approval of our formal Renewable Energy Plan (REP). SGCPC will update this Plan annually and submit the updated REP to URCA on an advisory basis. Every three years, URCA is required to conduct a formal review of the Plan.
The Bahamas Energy Act of 2015 (EA 2015) mandates the following.
- Encouragement of competition in the generation of renewable electricity.
- Plans that favor and promote the use of renewable energy “in the absence of competing reliability or cost considerations”.
URCA is therefore obligated to ensure that entities with licenses from URCA incorporate renewable energy in their generation portfolio and allow Customers to install their own renewable-energy systems – provided that those systems do not compromise the safety of the Licensee’s system or network AND are approved by SGCPC.
This EA 2015 mandate requires SGCPC (and other utility license holders) to employ the least-cost options, or options that do not represent an additional financial burden on SGCPC or Customers.
Customer-owned systems are less cost effective overall because they do not get the economy of scale that is inherent in larger purchases of equipment and installation services. That means the electricity from small systems is more expensive than the electricity from larger systems. That is contrary to the EA 2015 which requires lowest-cost electricity.
These reasons are why we favor the Solar Community program. Solar Community will make more solar electricity at a lower cost than Customers building their own small systems
What is Solar Community?
PHASE 2 of Solar Community includes the installation of SGCPC-owned solar energy systems on the roofs of Customers’ buildings that are connected to our grid. Land is limited for building more solar farms and land costs are high on Spanish Wells and Russell Island. Because of this land shortfall, SGCPC intends to install and operate PV systems on the roofs of commercial (and possibly also residential) buildings.
- SGCPC will engineer and install the solar-energy systems to industry best practices.
- That includes a structural analysis to ensure the building and the solar system can support the loads during a hurricane.
- Engineering by a licensed engineer and installation by a licensed electrician are critical parts of the survivability of these systems.
- Selecting products and installation techniques that are shown through engineering analysis to withstand 180 mph winds and site conditions.
- Designing equipment selection for high salt-mist corrosion to extend life cycle and performance.
- SGCPC will pay an annual lease payment to the building owner.
- The lease rate will be based on the capacity of the system and the expected financial performance of the installation.
- The financial performance will be evaluated on the ability to maintain or reduce SGCPC operating expenses and ultimately continue to be able to reduce Customer rates.
- Continue to deliver outstanding reliability and higher financial performance for everyone in our community than other solar-energy options that benefit only the system owner.
- SGCPC will pay all capital investment and operational expenses for the solar-energy systems.
- This includes liability insurance. Insurance is necessary to help protect neighbors from risk particularly during a hurricane.
- The financial performance will be evaluated on the ability to maintain or reduce SGCPC operating expenses and ultimately continue to be able to reduce Customer rates.
Solar Community is a major investment in our community by SGCPC that will benefit ALL Customers.
- Reduce the cost of electricity for all SGCPC Customers, and not just those that can afford their own solar-energy plant.
- When a Customer installs their own solar-energy plant to power their home or business, over time that causes the cost of electricity for everyone else to go UP.
- Establish more consistency in the rate of electricity.
- The cost of electricity is directly linked to the cost of diesel fuel. When the fuel price cost goes up, electricity prices go up; when the fuel price goes down, electricity prices go down.
- More “utility-scale” solar energy in the SGCPC grid, owned and managed by SGCPC, will result in less reliance and less fluctuation resulting from changing fuel prices.
- Solar energy at the utility scale reduces the risk of environmental damage from fuel spills and reduces air and noise pollution from the operating generators.
- Solar energy reduces our dependence on foreign oil and keep more of our hard-earned money in our community and in the Bahamas.
- The solar-energy industry creates local jobs and careers.
- Solar Community will help us achieve our goal for the Bahamas to reach 30% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
Customers interested in installing solar energy themselves on their own property can find information here
We look forward to building the future together. Thank you for your support.
Morris Pinder; President and General Manager