She wanted to do her small part to save the mountains and the earth. She thought it would be simple. She was wrong.
Bridgeport's Angela Mitchell wants to convert her home to solar-powered electricity. She needs the Frankfort Plant Board's approval. So far, however, the municipal utility has denied her request to tie a solar electric system into its electrical grid.
The denial " because she's the first and only customer to make the request " hasn't stopped her determination to convert to a greener option for electricity.
She likes the quote attributed to Helen Keller and others: "I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything. But still I can do something."
Mitchell, 48, currently has a petition drive underway to show the Plant Board she is not the only one interested in using renewable energy. Friday, she said more than 75 FPB customers had signed the petition. She plans to present the petition " available at Poor Richard's Books " to the board on July 17 at its regular meeting.
Her quest for solar electric began last November when she attended a senior project at Frankfort High School organized by Rheldi Purdy. It was a benefit to stop mountaintop removal strip mining.
"It hit me really hard thinking about the electricity we use being the cause of mountains being blown up to remove the coal from the earth," says Mitchell. "I had never really thought about it before."
Then in December, Mitchell, her three children " Sarah, 16, Nathan, 13, and Katie, 10 " and Aaron Sole, a junior at Western Hills High School " watched the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary by Al Gore on global warming and climate change.
After the movie, the group sat in a circle in the living room floor of the Mitchell home and discussed what they could do to help protect the environment. One item on their to-do list was to "go solar at our house," Angela said.
In January, she met Franklin County's Andy McDonald, coordinator of the Kentucky Solar Partnership. McDonald toured the Mitchell home on U.S. 60 near its intersection with old U.S. 60. McDonald went on the roof, took measurements and suggested ways to reduce energy consumption before considering solar.
McDonald's suggestions included additional insulation in the attic, windows and doors; insulation of the floor; replacing light bulbs with energy-saving, compact fluorescent bulbs; installing energy-efficient appliances and a solar water heating system.
Mitchell credits her children, Lloyd Mahoney, her father, and Linda Winkle, her sister, for helping her achieve the home improvements.
Light bulbs were quickly switched by Nathan. Insulation work was completed by Mahoney and Winkle. An energy-efficient washer and dryer arrived in May and, in June, a solar water heater.
Now she's ready to invest $25,000 to have photovoltaic panels installed on the roof to generate electricity through solar power. But she's hit a roadblock.
On May 18, Mitchell e-mailed a request to David Carpenter, chief electrical engineer at the Plant Board, which provides her phone, cable TV, computer access and electric service.
She said she wanted to convert her home to solar electric "to do my small part in conserving the natural resources of this earth. I would like to request that your company allow me to become grid-intertied and use a net metering system where I can feed back to Frankfort Plant Board any excess electricity I generate during the summer months on credit, and draw from your company when I do not generate enough in the winter months."
She said she understands the FPB, a municipally owned utility, is not required by law to provide net metering, "but would appreciate if you would consider allowing me to use this type of system."
Carpenter replied May 30, just before he retired. He apologized for not getting back to her sooner, "but other issues have taken priority," he said.
He told her legal ads were published twice in The State Journal, notifying FPB customers of a May 15 public hearing on Public Utility Regulatory Polices Act (PURPA) standards, which included net metering. No one commented on the standards, he said.
"You are the only eligible customer who has expressed an interest from over 20,000 eligible customers," he said "At this time we will not honor your request. FPB is open to revisiting this standard in the future as situations may change."
Mitchell replied, saying she does "not intend to just let go of this viable option" being used in many cities in Kentucky and other states. "Anything I as a consumer can do to help reduce the use of coal consumption within Kentucky and the ultimate damage it has created I will continue to pursue."
She also contacted the Kentucky Public Service Commission and Vent Foster, who replaced Carpenter as the Plant Board's chief electrical engineer.
Foster agreed to meet with Mitchell and her "technical people" " McDonald and Jeremy Coxon, vice president of SunWind Power Systems of Indiana, who installed her solar water heater and will install her solar electric panels, if she gets the OK from the FPB. Ann Wingrove, who serves on the FPB board of directors, also attended the meeting.
Foster said the Plant Board would need to do further technical research before giving her an answer.
Mitchell attended an EnvisionFranklinCounty meeting in late June to seek support and petition signatures.
Envision's Chris Schimmoeller said, "I think it's definitely something the Frankfort Plant Board should be doing and something we need to pressure them to do."
Members agreed to send a letter to the Plant Board and Frankfort Mayor Bill May saying "this is an important issue and should be given more weight," Schimmoeller said.
Friday, Foster told The State Journal the Plant Board has talked to officials from other utility companies in the state and "has set up meetings with some of those to look at their net metering. We're supposed to go to Berea, I think, next week."
After talking with a few board members and the general manager (Warner Caines), "they are all in favor of looking at the item again," Foster said.
Mitchell remains optimistic while waiting for an answer.
"My experience with going solar has taught me a lot about energy conservation, patience and perseverance," she said Friday. "Though it has been a struggle to get to the point of realizing this dream, and I'm not quite there yet, it has and will all be well worth the effort. The greatest experience is seeing my children's enthusiasm for green energy and conservation. They've certainly made some sacrifices this summer, since we have not used air conditioning in the home one time.
"Hopefully many other families in Franklin County will decide they too are willing to invest in the future of our planet and try some form of renewable energy. Assuming the Plant Board allows net metering, others that follow along this road should find it an easier one to travel."
A database administrator for the state Commonwealth Office of Technology, Mitchell said she has a dream of seeing the Commonwealth Data Center being powered by "solar panels all along the roof of the building. The amount of electricity consumed there with all the sophisticated computer systems and battery backup must be astronomical.
"Wouldn't it be great if we could say Kentucky's databases and computer systems are being brought to you " powered by the sun?"