Springfield schools’ solar plans have hit a snag

Springfield schools’ plan to get 80 percent of its electricity from solar has been handed a setback.

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School district signs solar power vendor

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Published February 3, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Springfield schools’ solar plans have hit a snag By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — Springfield schools’ plan to get 80 percent of its electricity from solar has been handed a setback. Steve Hier, director of finance for Springfield School District, said Monday a recent announcement by Green Mountain Power that it had reached its solar contract cap had left one of the solar companies in the area schools’ solar power consortium out in the cold. Sun Edison, one of the companies, hadn’t submitted their projects yet to the Public Service Board, he said. Hier said as a result, the school district signed a contract with the other solar company, Nexamp Capital LLC, that will deliver 40 percent of the district’s power via a solar facility already under construction in Berlin. The district had hoped to save $86,000 a year by getting most of its electricity from the school solar consortium projects, he said. Hier told members of the Springfield School Board Monday night that there was something good to report about the SunEdison and Nexamp problems. Of all the school districts, Springfield had been able to sign a contract with Nexamp for 40 percent of its electrical needs. He said the contract would allow the school district to save 36 percent off its electrical costs from Green Mountain Power. He said the Nexamp contract says it will deliver 669.6 kilowatts of electricity to GMP, with credit given to Springfield schools. The school solar consortium is made up of eight different school districts in southern Vermont, and they had received a grant to hire a consultant to help them with the conversion to solar, Hier said. SunEdison said it planned to build its solar facilities on former landfills, and thought they were not subject to the caps, he said. Hier said the consortium’s consultant was working to line up other solar companies to fill the void left by SunEdison but that the savings would not be as strong. Most of those projects, he said, would deliver electricity at 24 percent less than Green Mountain Power. The contracts require a 20-year commitment. The earlier contracts were for a 32 percent discount. Hier said it was too soon to say if the consortium would be able to line up enough solar contracts to fill the needs. He said the schools’ solar consultant was now recommending that one school district be signed up for one solar field. “It’s possible we could pursue another source for the other 40 percent, or we can say this is good,” said Hier, who added that he expected the School Board would take the issue up again next month. http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20160203/NEWS02/160209846 http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160203/NEWS02/160209846