Solar yard lights like this are being offered to new customers who sign up to support SNAP in August.

During August, Chelan County PUD is offering customers a free set of six solar yard lights when they sign up to support  SNAP.

SNAP is the PUD’s alternative energy program for small-scale solar and wind power. With SNAP, customers voluntarily pay a little extra on their utility bills. These customer donations are collected by the PUD and distributed once a year to our SNAP producers who are generating solar and wind power, which goes into the PUD’s electrical grid and is distributed to all customers.

SNAP started in 2001 with a committed group of about 600 supporters. With the downturn in the economy or for other reasons, that’s dropped to under 500 now. The PUD is aiming to improve those numbers by raising  customers’ awareness and interest in the program.

The solar yard light sets are available to the first 100 new SNAP supporters. Customers must agree to pay at least $2.50 a month for six months in order to receive the lights. Customers need to come into a PUD office at Chelan, Wenatchee or Leavenworth to sign up. After that the SNAP payment is automatically added to utility bills each month.

SNAP compliments the abundant, renewable hydropower enjoyed in this region. And it underscores the value of buying locally – helping your neighbors pay for their investment in equipment, helping schools fund programs, helping nonprofit agencies assist people in the community.

There are 44 producers around the county.

The award-winning 'Barn' at Barn Beach Reserve in Leavenworth includes green features such as solar-heated water that radiates through the floor for winter heating.

If you haven’t been to Leavenworth lately, here’s a really good reason to go: Visit Barn Beach Reserve. 

The reserve spans eight acres overlooking and adjacent to the Wenatchee River.  A group of conservation-minded citizens established the reserve in 2002 to help protect the river ecosystem and, according to the Barn Beach website, “to promote the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the Greater Wenatchee Valley through educational programming and stewardship bridging environment, arts and cultural history.” 

Executive Director Jeff Parsons has been with Barn Beach since its inception in 2002.

This they do through exhibits, programs and community events along the river at the focal point of the reserve,  the 107-year-old River Haus, home to the Upper Valley Museum and Icicle Arts as well as Barn Beach Reserve. Jim White, senior energy services engineer for Chelan PUD, conducted an audit at the historic former home last month to recommend ways to save energy. 

That’s not necessary at “The Barn,” the  new, green-built education and environmental center constructed on the foundation of a 1960s-era home on the property. The facility features 

The century-old River Haus is home to Barn Beach Nature Center, Icicle Arts and the Upper Valley Museum at Leavenworth.

countertops made from recycled paper, low-VOC pressboard cabinets, recycled corrugated metal, and acoustic “cloud” ceiling panels made of remnants from a Hanes underwear factory. Solar energy is collected in two systems, one to heat the building and another to provide electricity. A simple, passive convection ventilation system operates in mild weather. In summer heat, cool air from a basement is circulated to the main floor of the 4,000-square foot building. 

The American Institute of Architects named “The Barn” one of the top 10 green building projects in the Northwest in 2009. 

If Barn Beach Executive Director Jeff Parsons isn’t there to show you around, interpretive signs can guide visitors through the building and its green attributes. 

The reserve is adjacent to the city park and Blackbird Island, a popular stop on Audubon’s Great Washington Birding Trail. Check out upcoming events at the reserve here.

Larry Hibbard of Manson shows a small turbine runner to Kydykbek Isaev, governor of the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan. In the foreground (with backs turned) are PUD Commissioner Randy Smith and translator Natalya Goncharova. The runner was recently replaced after being in service at the 5-kilowatt project for 20-some years.

A Manson orchardist’s renewable power project has drawn the interest of a governor from Kyrgyzstan.

Kydykbek Isaev, governor of the Issyk-Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, visited the small hydro installation on Lower Joe Creek at the home of Larry Hibbard and Mary Murphy earlier this month. The visit was part of a day-long tour arranged by Chelan County PUD Commissioner Randy Smith. Smith and the governor were joined by interpreter Natalya Goncharova and PUD Commissioner Dennis Bolz.

The governor is interested in how small hydro and irrigation technology might benefit farmers in Kyrgyzstan, Smith said.

Hibbard told the group how his 5-kilowatt project is powered by water that travels through about 1,500 feet of six-inch pipe above Joe Creek Falls to the power plant 120 feet below. The power plant consists of a six-inch-diameter Pelton-style wheel with a two-jet system that provides flexibility for operating with varying seasonal water volumes.

The system has been producing electricity for 27 years. Since 2004, it’s been producing power as part of the PUD’s Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP) program.

Smith said the governor’s main focus in coming to the U.S. was to meet with officials in Washington, D.C. But the side trip to North Central Washington was suggested by Zamira Sydykova, ambassador to the U.S. and Canada, who had visited the Wenatchee area in May. Smith had coordinated a tour for the ambassador and she suggested the follow-up visit to the governor.

The tour included stops at TreeTop, two local orchards, Blue Star Growers in Cashmere, and a small hydro project on the west canal of the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project.

Hibbard and Murphy shared Aplets and Cotlets fruit candy with their grateful guests.

Smith’s connection stems from a friendship with Seattle attorney Gary Furlong, who Smith said “has a long-standing desire for the Northwest to help in economic development of that region. He’s worked tirelessly for years and years to that end.” Smith and Furlong met while involved in the Washington Agriculture and Forestry Leadership Program.

Smith said Kyrgyzstan is one of the major fruit-producing regions of central Asia. The governor commented that the Wenatchee area felt like home to him, Smith said.

Smith will soon find that out for himself. He plans to visit Kyrgyzstan later this year. In the meantime, he’s working with Chelan County and the Port District to develop a sister city-type relationship with the Issyk-Kul region.

Larry Hibbard and his wife Mary Murphy (center) hosted (from left) translator Natalya Goncharova, PUD Commissioners Dennis Bolz and Randy Smith, and Kyrgyzstan regional governor Kydykbek Isaev.

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Fourth-graders don’t know they’re learning – they’re too busy having fun

A little go-kart is conveying a big idea about what transportation and energy use might look like in the future.

After taking a spin in the solar-powered go-kart, students at John Newbery Elementary learn more about renewable energy from Chelan County PUD's Bob Bauer.

Each year in May, every fourth-grader in the Wenatchee School District gets to drive Chelan County PUD’s solar-powered go-kart. It’s part of a unit on electricity that culminates in a field trip to Rocky Reach Dam.

The go-kart, powered by a 600-watt solar panel, helps drive home the point that solar power can be used to perform many common tasks  – some mundane, and some exceedingly fun.

Led by PUD Education Specialist Bob Bauer, students list off the items in their classroom that use electricity: the pencil sharpener, coffeemaker, computers, and lights. Bauer tells them that solar panels installed permanently at their schools are generating enough electricity to power all those things.

The Alcoa Community Solar Endowment and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers installed solar arrays at all schools in the county in 2004-06.

Jim White, senior energy conservation engineer at the PUD, built the go-kart. It’s been used in classrooms for several years.

The field experience at Rocky Reach Dam is called River of Power. More than 700 fourth-graders from public and private schools in Chelan County participate in the four-day event. This year’s event is May 26-29.

Hands-on activities acquaint students with hydropower, the world of salmon, and basic principles of electricity generation. Students build model dams out of sand and cardboard, draw fish, measure the power of falling water and watch corn pop in a solar popper, among other lessons.

River of Power was developed in partnership with the Wenatchee School District. Teachers spend several weeks in the classroom each spring teaching about electricity, hydropower, the history of the Columbia River and renewable energy.

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