Villages strive to maintain electricity capacity
By Sandy Rose Schwieterman - For the Sidney Daily News
MINSTER – One would think a new supply of clean energy would be a boon to everyone involved. Buy a solar unit, put it on your roof and you have free power. Even better, excess electricity could be fed back into the electrical grid and suddenly the electric company is paying you money for your electrical contribution. A win/win, right? Well, it’s a little more complicated than that.
In preparation for the new realities of renewable energy, the administrators of the villages of Minster, New Bremen and Jackson Center each explained the purpose of new ordinances called Behind The Meter (BTM). Each will limit the amount of energy the village can accept and also regulate the equipment’s connection to the village’s electrical grid. For all, an application fee will be assessed.