A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.

26–27 September 2015

FEC solar garden dedication & Ravalli County considers a bad idea

Flathead Electric officially dedicates Stillwater photovoltaic array

Flathead Electric’s community solar project was sprinkled with holy electrons this week at a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring cooperative members who own panels in the array. FEC reports on this project on the coop's Facebook page. The ceremony is a good peg on which to hang a feature story on the project, so it may be covered in Daily InterLake.

Thus far, FEC is allocating just one panel per cooperative member. FEC estimates that one panel will produce 359 kilowatt hours of electricity a year. The payback period? Twenty-one years. As an environmentally responsible project, it gets high marks. As an investment, it will give your stockbroker a nosebleed.

Would I buy a panel in the Stillwater array? No. Neither would I install a net metered photovoltaic array unless I could throw a crossover switch to power my home from my array if the grid crashed. My goal is personal energy independence, getting off the grid, obtaining my electricity from a battery bank charged by a PV array and back-up generator. I already have solar powered walkway lights — a good example of distributed independent generation — but unfortunately, I’m still connected to FEC’s grid for the rest of my electrical needs.

Ravalli County’s government study commission wants troika style county commission

County commissions comprising three commissioners serving six-year terms are horse-and-buggy governments that ought to be retired. If one commissioner is on vacation and the other two disagree on an issue, such an declaring a state of emergency due to a natural disaster, the commission becomes deadlocked, unable to discharge its obligations. If two of three commissioners have a cup of coffee at, say, Starbucks, they comprise a quorum and thus violate Montana’s open meeting law. A commission with five or seven members, serving staggered four-year terms, is a much better system.

Ravalli County has a five-member county commission with four-year terms, but the members of the county’s government study commission, reports Perry Backus in the Missoulian, wants to revert to the troika system, believing that “…three commissioners could manage the county’s business, with the move saving money via reduced administrative costs.”

Why not just one commissioner, elected for life and not subject to recall? That would save even more money on elections and administration, and put an end to bickering among the commissioners.