At this meeting, we were informed of a new MB Hydro program for EV owners.
Just before Christmas, Manitoba Hydro joined the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association (MEVA). At this meeting, Sean Woroniak, Manitoba Hydro Marketing Strategies Officer, told us that MB Hydro has decided to offer to finance the costs of purchasing and installing residential EV charging equipment.
For more information on Level II EV Supply Equipment Financing use this link:
https://www.hydro.mb.ca/your_home/power_smart/residential_loan/index.shtml
Also, we learned that Hydro has developed programs to enable more Manitobans to use green energy.
Of course MEVA members and guests asked important questions. To answer a few of those questions, Sean promised to do some research when he returned to work the next day. Here are his answers:
Question 1 – How does the net metering work for solar PV?
Response:
For both residential and commercial installations billing is done on a monthly basis. If, in any month, you were to produce more electric energy than you consumed a credit would sit on your Manitoba Hydro energy account to go against your energy consumption from Manitoba Hydro’s grid in the next month. You never lose your credit, unless you deplete it by consuming electricity from the grid. For example, if you build up credit in the summer months (i.e. during the summer months you produce more than you consume) in the winter months these credits would be applied against your winter bills. The credit amount, regardless of wether you’re a commercial or residential customer, is based on the residential electricity rate.
Question 2 – What if I always produce more energy through PV than I consume (i.e. I am always in a credit position with Manitoba Hydro)?
Response:
Currently, there are approximately 30 solar PV installations in Manitoba. Of these, no one has ever been in a permanent rolling credit position for longer than a year. Although, as yet, no one has been in a permanent credit position, if this were to occur the customer could request a cheque from Manitoba Hydro for the credit. Cheques may be limited to once or a couple of times a year to keep administrative costs down, but this will be determined when such an event occurs.
Question 3 – What if I install a solar PV system and then add wind turbines to it, can I get credit for the electricity generated by the wind turbines?
Response:
During the MEVA meeting, Sean said he believed that only the PV would be net metered. But he promised to look into that some more. This is what he discovered. The limit for non-utility generation is 200kW. Provided that the total generation does not exceed 200 kW, the customer would be eligible to generate power through both wind and PV and receive a credit towards their consumption from both generation sources.
For more information on the Solar PV Program use this link:
https://www.hydro.mb.ca/environment/energy_sources/solar.shtml
For more information on Distributed Resources Interconnection Procedures use this link:
https://www.hydro.mb.ca/environment/customer_owned_generation/distributed.shtml
There was a presentation about electric vehicles by Alexander Amoroso, too.
Last year, Royal Canadian Air Force Second Lieutenant Amoroso graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada, with a Batchelor’s Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Now, he’s going through the Air Combat Systems Officer Training Course, at CFB Winnipeg. As part of that course’s professional development program, trainees have to give a 15 minute presentation, to help develop their public speaking skills. After seeing DRIVE FOR FREE 2, Second Lt. Amoroso decided that the topic of his presentation to the Officer Training Course would be electric vehicles. It’s not often that members of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association have an opportunity to see the direct effects which our various community outreach projects have on members of the public. So, MEVA members were grateful that, at this MEVA meeting, 2Lt. Amoroso was kind enough to reprise for us his presentation about electric vehicles, which was inspired by MEVA’s premiere of DRIVE FOR FREE 2. MEVA members were impressed by Alexander’s presentation, and encouraged him to make the presentation to other groups. Well done Xander!
