How American Community Energy Began
Kerry MacKelvey became interested in solar during the mid 1970’s when he was building his dream home in Park City, Utah. Solar for domestic hot water was a popular buzz word because of the Federal Income Tax credits that were offered by then President Jimmy Carter. The 1970’s gave to us the oil embargo and long lines at the gasoline pumps. We began to consider alternatives to oil and natural gas. The fear that natural gas would rise like the price of oil sparked interest in a lot of forward-thinking people.
MacKelvey had a family of two young children and was doing well in the residential and commercial development business he had started in Park City during a real-estate boom. MacKelvey, like others who appreciate the successes in their life, looked for ways to give back to society. Purchasing a solar hot-water system seemed like a good way to support the growth of a new technology and be prepared for rate increases that loomed in the future.
By 1993, the Federal Income Tax credits were long gone and solar was only popular in sunny warm places, used to heat swimming pools 15 to 20 degrees warmer than the 24-hr average air temperature. The natural gas prices never really increased as predicted, and free energy from solar to heat hot water was not needed because natural gas remained relatively inexpensive. Places like southern California and Florida were the most popular for solar-heated swimming pools. MacKelvey began selling solar heating for swimming pools in Southern California but found that it was a seasonal business. Most people did not think about heating their swimming pools during the winter, even in sunny California. And when the whether was warm enough in the end of summer, during August and September, most people did not think about heating their swimming pools. In 1994, MacKelvey expanded his interest in solar to learning about the generation of electricity using photovoltaic (PV) solar cells.
Then, in the year 2000-2001, California experienced a shortage of electricity and rolling blackouts during the winter months of January, February and March. The governor, Gray Davis, decided to save the state by taking over the negotiations and purchase of electricity from outside the state, and negotiated long term contracts to secure the electricity needs for the immediate 20-year future. Unfortunately, he was outsmarted by companies such as Duke, Williams and Enron.
California was consuming 25% of the state's electric power just to move water around the state. Therefore, Gray Davis felt he needed to negotiate electric rates to secure the state's supply of electricity to keep its water moving. The problem was he placed the state into debt by over $34 billion. The people of the state reacted by recalling him from office, but the damage was done.
A few years later, Duke and later Williams admitted to their crimes and settled for five cents on the dollar. The settlement dollars paid for legal fees to the state attorney general’s office and some of the overpayments of customer overcharges were given to schools to build solar demonstration systems for the schools.
While all this was happening solar electricity became very popular and MacKelvey was at the right place at the right time. He sold over two hundred solar residential systems during 2001 and 2002. During 2003, Kerry changed his marketing approach and went after the larger commercial customers and sold $3 million worth of commercial solar, in only a dozen projects. During 2004, Kerry returned to the residential market and sold another two hundred projects while electric rates continued to rise in California.
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Kerry MacKelvey became interested in solar during the mid 1970’s when he was building his dream home in Park City, Utah. Solar for domestic hot water was a popular buzz word because of the Federal Income Tax credits that were offered by then President Jimmy Carter. The 1970’s gave to us the oil embargo and long lines at the gasoline pumps. We began to consider alternatives to oil and natural gas. The fear that natural gas would rise like the price of oil sparked interest in a lot of forward-thinking people.
MacKelvey had a family of two young children and was doing well in the residential and commercial development business he had started in Park City during a real-estate boom. MacKelvey, like others who appreciate the successes in their life, looked for ways to give back to society. Purchasing a solar hot-water system seemed like a good way to support the growth of a new technology and be prepared for rate increases that loomed in the future.
By 1993, the Federal Income Tax credits were long gone and solar was only popular in sunny warm places, used to heat swimming pools 15 to 20 degrees warmer than the 24-hr average air temperature. The natural gas prices never really increased as predicted, and free energy from solar to heat hot water was not needed because natural gas remained relatively inexpensive. Places like southern California and Florida were the most popular for solar-heated swimming pools. MacKelvey began selling solar heating for swimming pools in Southern California but found that it was a seasonal business. Most people did not think about heating their swimming pools during the winter, even in sunny California. And when the whether was warm enough in the end of summer, during August and September, most people did not think about heating their swimming pools. In 1994, MacKelvey expanded his interest in solar to learning about the generation of electricity using photovoltaic (PV) solar cells.
Then, in the year 2000-2001, California experienced a shortage of electricity and rolling blackouts during the winter months of January, February and March. The governor, Gray Davis, decided to save the state by taking over the negotiations and purchase of electricity from outside the state, and negotiated long term contracts to secure the electricity needs for the immediate 20-year future. Unfortunately, he was outsmarted by companies such as Duke, Williams and Enron.
California was consuming 25% of the state's electric power just to move water around the state. Therefore, Gray Davis felt he needed to negotiate electric rates to secure the state's supply of electricity to keep its water moving. The problem was he placed the state into debt by over $34 billion. The people of the state reacted by recalling him from office, but the damage was done.
A few years later, Duke and later Williams admitted to their crimes and settled for five cents on the dollar. The settlement dollars paid for legal fees to the state attorney general’s office and some of the overpayments of customer overcharges were given to schools to build solar demonstration systems for the schools.
While all this was happening solar electricity became very popular and MacKelvey was at the right place at the right time. He sold over two hundred solar residential systems during 2001 and 2002. During 2003, Kerry changed his marketing approach and went after the larger commercial customers and sold $3 million worth of commercial solar, in only a dozen projects. During 2004, Kerry returned to the residential market and sold another two hundred projects while electric rates continued to rise in California.
E-mail: For More Information