Iowa Wind Entrepreneurship Workshop Steps in Organizing, Utility Agreements, and Financing

1. Iowa Wind Entrepreneurship WorkshopSteps in Organizing,Utility Agreements,and Financing October 21, 2005 Iowa Community Entrepreneurship Academy Manning Hausbarn Konferenz Centre Thomas A. Wind Wind Utility Consulting Jefferson, Iowa

2. Attend Seminars and Conferences Neighboring Farmers Organizing a Wind Farm Organizing a Wind Farm • It all starts with one person with an idea or a dream! • Someone has to be the promoter or champion that is willing to take the lead and do some leg work • Learn all you can about the wind industry • Visit with others who have done what you want to do • Attend conferences • Internet research • Decide if you want to do a project by yourself or partner with others on a larger project.

3. MinWind 1 & 2 4 x 950 kW turbines 66 farmers invested cash for equity (40% of cost) 60% from local bank Minnesota State Incentive 1.5 ¢ per kWh for 10 years Development Hurdles Legal costs to set up LLC Photo: Mark Steil Examples of Locally-Owned Projects in Minnesota • Steve & Jane Teideman • 2 x 950 kW turbines • 40% Equity / 60% Debt • Most of equity from selling tax benefits to outside investor • Debt from local bank loan • Minnesota State Incentive 1.5 ¢ per kWh for 10 years • Development Hurdles • Purchased turbine from manufacturer new to U.S.

4. Economic Feasibility • At some point in your educational phase, you will need more detailed information about your specific site to determine the economic feasibility and the wisdom of proceeding • Internet based wind generation evaluation tools may help • If no one else is doing a wind turbine project in your area, you need to ask “Why not?”

5. Economic Feasibility • Farm Bureau now provides a free wind generation screening service for its members • This service will provide an initial assessment of the wind speed on your property • It will give an estimate of the selling price of power you need to make a large wind turbine economically feasible • If you want a specific site evaluation you will likely need additional technical help • You may be able to apply for some funding from the USDA to pay for some of the study costs.

6. Meteorological Test Tower • You may want to install a met tower to verify the computer estimated wind speed analysis • A 50 meter Met Tower will cost about $11,000 to install and maybe another $1,000-$2,000 for the analysis of the data over a year or so • You need at least 1 year of data if there isn’t another nearby met tower that you can correlate data with • Computer based studies are less expensive and in some cases provide enough information.

7. Example of Wind Data

8. Mean Annual Wind Speed Data from the Iowa Energy Center in Meters per Second

9. Mean Annual Wind Speeds in Meters per Second High Resolution Wind Speed Map of 10 Mile by 10 Mile Area

10. 8 7 5 6 M 4 3 2 1 1 Wind Turbine #1 M Met Tower High Resolution Wind Speed Map of 3 Mile by 3 Mile Area Mean Annual Wind Speeds in Meters per Second 0.02 Mps per Color Change

11. Most Significant Factors Affecting the Economics • Wind speed at site • Buyback rate from utility • Financial incentive from state legislature of 1.5 ¢ per kWh for first 10 years • Generally, this incentive is required to make a “small” project financially feasible • Wind turbine prices • Interconnection cost • USDA Section 9006 grants ($250-$500k) • Zero interest loan from Iowa Energy Center

12. Getting Agreements with Your Utility • You must get a Power Purchase Agreement (“PPA”) typically from your local area utility (or its provider) that specifies the terms for selling the power to the utility • You must get an Interconnection and operating agreement that specifies standards and safety conditions for how the wind turbine is operated. • You will be working closely with your local utility • A good relationship with the local utility is important since you will be working with them for a long time!

13. Turbine Supply and Balance of Plant Contracts • You must have an purchase agreement with the wind turbine manufacturer • Wind turbine supply is very tight now and delivery times have stretched from 6 months to 1 to 2 years since the Energy Bill passed • It’s a seller’s market, little negotiation in the price • You need a “Balance of Plant” contract for installing the foundation and erecting the wind turbine.

14. Financing Options • To be competitive with fossil fueled generation, wind generation needs a subsidy – Production Tax Credit (“PTC”) • 1.9 ¢ per kWh sold for first 10 years • 5 year MACRS tax depreciation • These sizable tax benefits usually require partnering with a large company or wealthy investors who can use the tax benefits • Since non-profit entities don’t pay income taxes, they can’t use these benefits • Federal subsidies for non-profits are generally not as good or reliable. • Renewable Energy Production Incentive (“REPI”) and Clean Renewable Energy Bonds are both constrained by funding levels.

15. LLC Flip Structure • This structure fully utilizes the federal tax benefits for wind by partnering with another “Tax Investor” as an equity provider • Ownership structure based on Minnesota LLC Flip model • Outside Investor for utilizing income tax benefits (“Tax Investor”) becomes a partner in your LLC and pays 35-40% of the wind turbine project cost depending upon how windy the site is • Ownership flips after ≈10 years from Tax Investor to local owner when the tax benefits lapse and Local Owner becomes majority stakeholder • May want to apply for USDA grants • Limited to $500,000 or 25% of project • Reduces Production Tax Credit and depreciation basis for Tax Investor • Iowa Energy Center’s (IEC) Alternate Energy Revolving Loan Program (AERLP), limited to $250,000 • Modest down payment • Borrow balance from bank or use Tax Investor’s debt sources.

16. Summary • All wind projects start with one person and someone must be the champion • It takes a lot of work to develop a wind generation project and some capital will be at risk in the development process • You will likely need some technical help along the way • In today’s market, there is a shortage of wind turbines • There is plenty of capital out there for good projects