By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
A referendum for the second phase of West Windsor-Plainsboro’s solar project will most likely be delayed as the district continues to hear crickets from the governor’s office for approval and the ticking clock of its deadline for federal financing.
To appear on the April 27 ballot with the budget and school board candidates, the question must submitted in the final wording of the ballot to the county office by 10 a.m. on April 8, said district spokeswoman Gerri Hutner.
The question would ask voters to approve the issuance of $6.4 million in interest-free federal bonds to pay for solar panels at seven of the district schools. She said the board hopes to have approval from the state Department of Education by the end of March to make the county’s deadline.
”We haven’t heard anything yet, but we are keeping our fingers crossed,” she said. “We still have a little bit of time, but if we don’t hear in about a week and a half, the board will have to decide what to do in moving forward with the project.”
The district was awarded the bonds in October 2009 as part of the federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds program, but was given a two-year deadline to accept the allocation. The board hopes to include the question in the upcoming election because holding a separate election for the referendum could cost between $30,000 and $35,000.
Larry Shanok, assistant superintendent of finance, said the board has several options if it misses the county deadline. It could put the question on next year’s budget ballot, but it runs the risk of being too close to the federal deadline, should other delays arise.
”We would be at our 30th of 36 months,” he said. “That’s cutting it very close.”
Mr. Shanok said the board could also decide to go ahead with the project by forgoing the federal bonds and use the district’s AAA bond rating to finance the project.
The board has been writing to Governor Christie’s office for months, requesting his assistance to meet the deadline and stressing the projected savings to taxpayers.
The board estimates the panels will generate $400,000 in the first 12 months of operation, after covering the principal and interest of installing the panels. The revenue, garnered through energy savings and the sale of energy credits, would factor into next year’s budget to offset other costs, Mr. Shanok has said.
Solar panels were installed at both high schools in 2009 during the first phase.
The board is seeking to put panels on the remainder of the schools, except for Dutch Neck, which doesn’t have a suitable roof for the installation.
The panels might generate up to 1,070 watts of energy.

