Thirty-eight solar panels are planted next to the vegetable garden of Gro Buer and Bruce Williams, new SNAP producers in Leavenworth.

Solar and wind power program relies on customer support

Here’s an easy way to contribute to the “greening” of our valley: Sign up to support Sustainable Natural Alternative Power (SNAP).

Customers who support SNAP agree to pay a little extra each month on their utility bills. These funds go into a pool that are divided once a year among schools, nonprofit agencies and private producers of solar, wind and small-hydro power in Chelan County.

Eight solar producers joined SNAP in the past year, helping push the program to a production record of 175,142 kilowatt hours of energy. The eight new producers, all with fixed solar systems, added 26 kW of capacity. They are:

• Vic Rasmussen, 1521 Medina Pl., Wenatchee
• Gail Mueller, 2986 Lakeshore Dr., Manson
• Gro Buer and Bruce Williams, 8050 E. Leavenworth Road, Leavenworth
• Greg and Mary Steeber, 12512 Wilson St., Leavenworth
• John Smith, 5108 Old Blewett Pass Road, Peshastin
• Harrison Mekeel, 654 Loop Ave., Manson
• Travis Fox, 6555 Pioneer Ave., Cashmere
• Chuck Fowler, 10420 North Road, Leavenworth

Three applications are pending for SNAP installations in Leavenworth, Manson and Wenatchee.

In addition to SNAP payments, producers are taking advantage of generous state-sponsored incentives. Producers using solar modules and inverters manufactured in Washington are eligible for the highest payouts available through the state’s renewable incentive program. Taking advantage of the state incentives, in addition to SNAP, brings a faster return on investment.

The state payments come from the state’s utility tax fund; SNAP payments come from PUD customers interested in renewable energy. Customers contributed $24,674 this past year for payments of 14 cents per kilowatt hour to SNAP producers.

Meet the producers and get program details for 2013 in the SNAP Annual Report.

Gadgets, gizmos and lots of good stuff for your home and garden await you at the KPQ Home and Garden Show, March 8-10 at the Town Toyota Center.

Chelan PUD staff will be on hand with information on new programs including appliance rebates, refrigerator recycling and duct testing and sealing for manufactured homes. Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter and receive your choice of an LED night light or a compact fluorescent light bulb. Interested in paperless billing? We can help with that, too.

More than 150 exhibitors will set up displays inside and outside the center.  Learn the latest in home construction, decor and — of course — energy savings and green living.

WSU Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer your gardening questions, share about the Xeriscape and Community Education gardens, and diagnose problems you may be having in your backyard. Need a pair of gloves or a Day by Day Resource Guide on what to do in your garden when? You can get both at this year’s show. A schedule of seminars and workshops is available here.

Show hours are Friday, March 8, noon to 7 p.m.; Saturday, March 9, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, March 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

See you there!

Fill 'er up: Use a bag like this and you can avoid the paper vs. plastic dilemma.

Unbeknownst to me, I took the Bag Challenge at Foodland in Waipouli, Kauai in November. My husband and I were on vacation there for two weeks and became frequent Foodland shoppers, bringing our reusable bags to carry our groceries. We were rewarded with 5 cents off per bag and a reusable Foodland tote, a nice souvenir.

Hawaii is the first state to ban plastic bags, and they were nowhere to be seen at any of the shops we visited. From the big box stores like Wal Mart to the tiniest takeout stands, it was cloth or brown paper. 

Bringing our own bags was an easy habit to get into. So we’ve been wondering: why don’t we see more of that here? Sure, there’s a debate about whether paper or plastic is less harmful to the environment. But how about using neither?

Plastic bags have been banned in Seattle for almost a year now, and the transition seems to have gone smoothly. After just one month KING 5 TV reported the bag ban was “taking hold easier than people expected.”

Seattle Public Utilities offers these tips to consumers which apply anywhere, bag ban or not:

• Keep several reusable bags in the car for trips to the grocery store.
• A small bag, the kind that goes into a little stuff bag, can be carried in your backpack, shoulder bag or purse.
• Reuse or recycle paper bags when you get them or donate clean ones to your neighborhood food bank.
• When you get plastic bags from a store, save them and put newspaper and dry cleaning bags and plastic film packaging in them for recycling.

Most local grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling.

An engaging, interactive look at the paper vs. plastic conflict is on the msnbc website. Hear from representatives of the paper and plastic industries, see the latest trends in reusable bags, and calculate the impact if you change your bag habits.

Related stories
Plastic bag recycling: http://www.plasticbagrecycling.org/00.0/
The case against plastic bags: http://www.allgreenthings.com/store/pc/Paper-vs-Plastic-d9.htm
The case for plastic bags: http://www.justfactsdaily.com/bans-on-plastic-bags-harm-the-environment

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Getting new games for Christmas? Hoping for a tablet or TV under the tree?

You’ll save on your electric bill by purchasing products with the ENERGY STAR label. And once you have them at home, you’ll save even more by remembering to turn them off when not in use.

Much of the electricity used by home electronic equipment is consumed when the products are turned off. That’s because they’re not really “off” – they’re in standby mode, using electricity to power features like clocks, remote controls and channel/station memory.

ENERGY STAR qualified home electronics products in the “off” position use up to 50 percent less energy than conventional equipment, without sacrificing any important features. You save on your energy bills and reduce energy waste.

You can find the ENERGY STAR label on all types of electronics products:

• TVs
• VCRs/DVDs
• Stereos
• Set-top boxes (such as cable boxes, satellite receivers, Internet access devices and video game consoles)
• Telephone products (such as cordless phones, answering machines and combination units)
• Home office equipment (computer, monitor, printer and fax machine)

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the average home has one DVD player, three phones and two televisions. Televisions are typically larger, in use more hours each day, and offer more vibrant pictures and advanced features than ever before. Three factors influence the increased amount of energy consumed by televisions: screen size, resolution, and display technology. A useful rule of thumb is that power consumption is around one third of a watt per square inch of screen area. Thus a 42-inch TV will use around 70 percent more power than a 32-inch one. 

EPA’s ENERGY STAR specification for televisions establishes stringent requirements for energy use. Televisions that earn the ENERGY STAR are up to 30 percent more efficient than standard models by saving energy while they are on and when they are off.

The current generation of gaming consoles is represented by the Microsoft XBox 360, Sony Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii. Because these devices can be switched on for long periods, the electricity cost of using them can add up. During play, the XBox 360 uses 180 watts; PS3, 190 watts, and the Wii, only 18 watts. In standby mode, all three use only 2 watts of power.

Bottom line: Look for the ENERGY STAR label when shopping for electronics. And remember to turn electronics off when not in use.

A helpful brochure from ENERGY STAR  is available here.

A workshop on Landscaping for Low Impact Development (LID) is being offered through Washington State University Chelan County Extension on Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tree Fruit Research Center, 1100 Western Ave., Wenatchee.

The focus of the program is on soil amendment, plant material selection and maintenance, including the use of pesticides and fertilizers.  

Paula Dinius, urban horticulturist for WSU Chelan County Extension, will present the workshop. By following  natural ecological processes  “we can create diverse, productive, interdependent systems to improve urban landscapes through bioretention for water quality, and manage snow melt and storm water runoff at the source and on the surface,” she said.

The afternoon portion of the program will be held in Riverfront Park.

This is the third in a series of horticultural program offered this year. The fee is $10. A brochure and registration form is here. For more information contact Dinius at (509) 667-6540 or pdinius@wsu.edu.