Catholic Shelter for Homeless Would Lose Energy Savings Under SDG&E; Plan

Designers of the new St. Vincent de Paul emergency shelter in downtown San Diego fear that the building’s award-winning energy conservation system could become a costly white elephant if state regulators approve electric rates that recently were proposed by San Diego Gas & Electric.

The rates, which first must be approved by state regulators, would make it uneconomical for the center, which will open later this month, to run a $280,000 electric co-generation unit that was expected to help trim utility bills by as much as 70%, according to architect Fred De Santo.

“The added expense (of the new rates) would almost certainly cancel what we’ve put into the energy system,” said shelter director Father Joe Carroll, who hopes to open the shelter later this month. “We’d probably see the results of our (co-generation) investment being wasted. It might end up being a wash with all the additional fees.”

‘Stand-by’ Fee Proposed

The proposed rate change includes a new “stand-by” charge that SDG&E; wants to collect from co-generators who would turn to SDG&E; for electricity when their co-generation systems fail. Co-generation proponents say the fee, when coupled with SDG&E;’s proposed electric rates, would effectively kill many co-generation projects that otherwise would be cost-effective.

Father Carroll has been lobbying the state Public Utilities Commission to either exempt the center from the proposed rates or “grandfather” it in under existing rates. He said he was optimistic that the center would not be subject to the rates.

The PUC will hold public hearings on the rate request in San Diego on Sept. 21.

The St. Vincent de Paul center used a $2,000 donation from SDG&E; to pay for computer modeling completed several years ago that proved co-generation to be a cost-effective alternative.

The $11-million emergency shelter, owned by the Catholic Diocese of San Diego, will open at the end of August. It will house about 350 of San Diego’s homeless in its 110 apartments, as well as provide meals, medical care, education for children and a jobs-skills workshop for adults.

“Our idea was to put the best and latest technology in to save on operating costs so we’d have a building that was inexpensive to operate,” Father Carroll said. “But when SDG&E; came out with idea of new rate, we knew we had to let our voices be heard . . . (that) the added expense would almost cancel what we’d put in.’

SDG&E; ‘Sympathetic’

SDG&E; remains “extremely sympathetic to St. Vincent De Paul,” according to a company spokesman, who added that the utility “is continuing to look at their situation.”

The 99.9-kilowatt co-generation unit will generate relatively cheap electricity, but De Santo said the big cost savings will be driven by a waste heat recovery system that will warm the building during winter months and heat water used for cooking, laundry and bathing.

Without the co-generation unit operating, De Santo said, the center would have to rely upon an expensive hot-water heater that was designed to serve as a back-up unit, De Santo said. The center also would be forced to add “a very expensive” emergency power generation system, according to the architect.

“It would affect our whole heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system,” De Santo said. “It would throw everything out of kilter.”

Co-generation proponents around the country contend that SDG&E;’s proposed electric rate would effectively kill many co-generation projects in SDG&E;’s electric distribution territory.

“If SDG&E; gets (the rate package), every utility in California would adopt something similar, and other states would be looking at it too,” said Mike Feori, vice president of Intellicon, a San Diego-based company that is installing the center’s energy management system.

SDG&E; has defended its proposed rate structure as necessary if the utility is to hold down electric rates for residential customers and smaller commercial and industrial concerns that use relatively little electricity.

The utility maintains that its existing rate structures force smaller businesses and residential customers to subsidize larger electric customers that, like St. Vincent de Paul, install co-generation units to reduce their electric rates.

That disparity exists, SDG&E; argues, because of PUC regulations that force California utilities to buy excess electricity from the co-generators, despite the availability of cheaper electricity elsewhere. Additionally, when larger electric customers generate their own power, operating and capital costs must be spread over fewer customers, according to the utility.

Members of the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers and the San Diego State University Energy Engineering Institute volunteered to design and review some of the energy-saving systems incorporated into the center. Additionally, some energy companies in San Diego donated equipment to the center.

The center’s energy-efficient design was recognized in 1986 with an award from the California Energy Commission.