Our guests on Friday, August 13th were Suzy Oversvee and Laura Zorack from Snohomish PUD discussing the Community Solar and Arlington Microgrid programs. A few facts about the Snohomish County PUD: The public utility provides power to over 350,000 customers in Snohomish County and Camano Island. The utility is the second largest publicly owned utility in the Pacific Northwest and the 12th largest in the United States. It is a national leader in carbon free energy.
The Arlington Microgrid is a small generating grid. Its basically a big generator for the community along with energy storage. They have the ability to island the grid in case of any disasters. They can get an operation up and running without going to the BPA for help.
The Microgrid goals and use cases proposed for clean energy fund grant. The microgrid covers over two acres. In 2019, a 500 kw solar project was installed in Arlington. The project consist of 1620 solar panels. Utility customers were offered the option of purchasing shares to cover the cost of construction. At the time of completion, it was the largest solar project in Washington State. The Governor visited the project in April followed by a story in the Everett Herald.
A second community solar project is underway after receiving a grant from the State and is in south Everett. Partnering with Everett it should be up and running by the end of the year. Another great program for our Club.