Chelan County PUD - Sustainable Natural Alternative Power Producers Program

Summary

The Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP) program encourages customers to install alternative power generators such as solar panels and wind turbines and connect them to the Chelan County Public Utility District's (the PUD's) electrical distribution system by offering an incentive payment based on the system's production. The PUD distributes SNAP payments annually, on or around Earth Day. The amount paid per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to SNAP Producers is determined by dividing the total amount contributed by SNAP Purchasers through the utility's green pricing program, divided by the total electricity generated by all SNAP Producers. The greater the amount contributed by SNAP Purchasers, the greater the amount that will be distributed among participating SNAP Producers, up to a maximum of $1.50 per kWh. As a result, payment rates have varied over the course of the program.

According to the program web site, the installed capacity as well as the number and types of SNAP Producers in 2018 are as follows:

Number of SNAP sites: 90
Schools: 21
Non-profit agencies: 7
Private producers: 57
Colleges (Wenatchee Valley College): 2 
Public buildings (Federal building): 2

SNAP renewables by type:
Solar: 86
Wind: 3
Small Hydro: 1*
*One producer has both wind and hydro on-site.

Capacity (in kilowatts): 477
Solar: 430
Wind: 42
Small Hydro: 5

The SNAP model can be adopted by other utilities at no cost. Additional information is available on the SNAP web site.