BY ELAINE VANDEVELDE
Staff Writer
On the subject of energy efficiency, Edison school officials will tell you they have seen the light and the enlightenment stands to save them $1 million a year.
They plan to take advantage of a state program to install solar energy panels on all the district’s buildings.
And the odds are good that the 17-school district will receive funding from two sources to install the panels on all the schools and an annex, said School Business Administrator Daniel Michaud, who calls the project a "win-win proposition."
"Not only will the panels offset electric usage but, as a participant in this program, we will be given credits for being a generator of electricity," Michaud said. "We can sell those credits back to the state Board of Public Utilities [BPU] for money. Not only will it save us and, more than likely, actually put money back in our budget, it will not cost taxpayers a cent."
Sixty percent of the $21 million price tag to design and install the system will be picked up by the state Department of Education’s (DOE) Schools Construction Corp. (SCC), an arm of the DOE’s Economic Development Authority, which encourages construction projects that will yield long-term savings, he said.
Once the commitment is secured from the BPU for the 60 percent, the other 40 percent from the DOE’s SCC will follow, Michaud said.
"We pretty much have a pre-approval for the project," he said. "We just have to get the paperwork in and get an official nod."
The SCC has also given the district a verbal commitment, Michaud said.
The solar panels have a life of 30 years. If all goes well, installation of the panels should start next spring. The panels could save the district about $1 million a year between the energy savings and credits earned, Michaud said.
"That money will go back into miscellaneous revenue and then can be spent on other educational needs as they arise," he said.
"Basically, the meter will be running backwards in the summer," he added. "There will be a huge credit coupled with the energy savings."
Installing the panels on all the district’s buildings will help the BPU meet a state energy mandate. The BPU is obligated by state law to see to it that 2 percent of the energy it generates comes from a solar source, Michaud said.
"Because it does not have the facilities to provide the solar energy itself, BPU is looking for private industry to become generators of that percentage of solar electricity," he added. "The agency then purchases credits back from us. The fines they [BPU] would get from the state for not using the solar energy would far exceed the amount we stand to gain in credits for providing the source of solar electricity generation. "
The process works much like a stock market, Michaud said.
"Once the system is up and running, because of the state mandate, we can get bids on our credits earned for generating the solar electricity and sell it back to any generator of electricity," Michaud said. "But, right now, we can deal solely with BPU directly since it is providing the bulk of the funding to install the system."
The district must submit an application for each building to the BPU. So far, 11 have been submitted with eight more to follow soon,’ he said.
The BPU is expected to send its letter of commitment within two to three weeks after all the applications are in, said Michaud.
"Once we get the commitment letters, the Board of Education will accept the funds as a formal part of its legal process," Michaud said. "The board will then send a letter to the SCC saying that the project and the 60 percent funding has been approved by the BPU and the board has accepted it, and the SCC will have up to 90 days to approve or deny the remaining 40 percent in funding."
State and county officials have told him this is an eligible project, Michaud said.
The roofs, installed in 1997, are all relatively new and should be able to handle the weight of the panels, which are about 4 to 6 pounds per square foot.