Why? Because the local utility, Lower Valley Energy (LVE), a regional electric cooperative, will see itself operating in a new climate in which the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) – a federal entity that operates the Northwest U.S. grid and sells power from a series hydroelectric, nuclear and wind energy plants – caps energy purchases and changes its pricing structure to include retail electricity rates.

The proposed change is called a “tiered rate cap”, and projects that when the BPA has to buy electricity at Tier 2 (as opposed to Tier 1 electricity from 31 federal dams) in the retail electric marketplace, the cost is going to be higher. A lot higher. Try triple the cost, according to one expert.

Wyoming government officials haven’t adequately addressed the problem, but Jackson Hole residents – always a little ahead of the state curve – stand ready to meet the challenge by installing solar photovoltaic energy systems, with a little help from $2.25 million in federal stimulus, or ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) funds.

The solution? Solar energy systems. These, combined with energy efficiency measures like new, thermal windows, better insulation, and high-efficiency appliances, will make at least 330 residents participating in the Energy Sustainability Project (ESP) ready to meet their expensive-energy future.

Of course, like any brilliant idea which has found its time, the ESP is faced by a legal quagmire, namely that under Wyoming law taxpayer funds can’t go to any but indigent individuals. And the only way to correct the situation is to amend the state constitution.

The amendment would come, as it has in California and Colorado, as a provision allowing cities and municipalities to fund solar energy systems as part of property taxes, with the cities loaning the money and collecting it as an annual assessment against the property (with a built-in fee for administrative costs). Thus a homeowner could borrow $30,000 from the city, put a solar photovoltaic system on his or her roof, and pay the system back over time (up to 20 years).

In California, the solar financing through real estate taxes is made possible by AB811. Colorado has HR 1350, New York has its own provision, and Nevada is working on similar legislation – as are Virginia, Oregon, Vermont, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Wyoming, which has so far stayed out of the fray, may be forced into similar legislation by default, and the percentage of participants may overwhelm even California’s image as solar capital of the nation, given Jackson Hole’s intent to “integrate energy efficiency into every single building in the community”, according to Wendy Koelfgen, Town and Country Energy Affairs Coordinator.

Besides a wealth of newly installed solar photovoltaic energy systems on Jackson Hole roofs, the area might also see “smart” thermostats, and a participatory LVE smart grid. The area also has an Energy Mitigation Plan, or EMP, which goes into effect Jan. 21 and has already inspired one area homeowner to install enough solar panels to reduce his energy use to “idle” – quite a feat for a 4,000-square-foot home.

The ESP is still in early stages, looking for a firm to communicate its agenda, and with policy goals that are, as yet, not written in stone (or elsewhere).