The city of Jefferson is looking to an alternative energy source to drive down some costs.
At their most recent meeting, the City Council approved to enter a contract with Red Lion Renewables to install solar panels and associated equipment at 11 locations across the community. City Administrator Scott Peterson says Red Lion is going to own, operate and maintain all of their equipment, while the city has agreed to allow access to the easements on city-owned property for the installation and purchasing the power that is generated from those panels. He points out the ultimate goal is reducing the overall electricity costs at those locations.
“The savings to the city comes in, in that the cost of purchasing that solar power is less than what the city would pay to Alliant Energy for the equivalent power. So there is some savings that are generated here.”
Peterson states that the estimated savings from the solar panels after the first year of operation is $27,000, which isn’t too significant, but then over the 30-year lifespan of the equipment, the savings are projected to be close to $3 million. He anticipates construction to begin prior to the end of June, because that’s when the federal tax credits for solar panels are discontinued and Red Lion must start the project before then.
Peterson adds that some of those 11 locations include City Hall, Greene County Community Center, the library and swimming pool, among others. Click the link below to see where all of the areas are that will have solar panels installed.