The Renewable Energy Assistance Program (REAP) provides grants to cooperatives to help cover costs associated with consumer-members who want to install a generation system, such as anaerobic digesters, wind turbines or solar units. It also pays for certain transitional costs to help ensure that other electric cooperative consumer-members are not required to subsidize the operation or installation of small renewable energy generation systems. Since 2006, REAP has provided more than $1.77 million in interconnection grants among Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc.’s (Allegheny) 14 member cooperatives.
In many ways, REAP reflects the electric cooperative tradition of members helping members and continues to strengthen Allegheny’s history of addressing environmental and energy challenges in a cost-effective and equitable manner. Allegheny and its member cooperatives recognize the value of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy to meet the evolving needs of the energy grid and actively work with consumer-members interested in interconnecting small-scale energy projects to their homes, farms, or businesses.
To qualify for REAP grants, a renewable energy system cannot be larger than 500 kilowatts and must meet the definition of a “qualified facility” under the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 or as an “alternative energy generating system” under Act 213. Any excess energy is sold to Allegheny at its avoided cost. Avoided cost is the expense Allegheny would incur if it supplied the same amount of power itself.