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City OKs huge solar project – Fresno expects to drastically cut its electricity bill.

Fresno will build one of the largest solar projects of its kind on the West Coast to lower the city’s electricity bill and improve the environment.

By Jim Davis
The Fresno Bee

The city will install solar panels on several canopies at its main work yard that will provide nearly all the electricity for hundreds of city workers during the summer months.

"I think these are the types of steps a progressive city takes," City Council Member Henry T. Perea said. "This is one of the rare occasions where you can save taxpayers’ money in the long run and be pro-environment."

The City Council voted 5-2 last week to approve the $4.725 million project. City staff members estimate the solar panels and other energy efficiency efforts will save money immediately.

But Council Member Jerry Duncan remains skeptical about the proposal.

"My only hope now is that by some stroke of luck we actually achieve those savings," Duncan said. "I just don’t have the confidence in the data that we will."

The city will follow the lead of longtime Fresno business OK Produce, which installed solar panels on the roof of its downtown building earlier this year. The business expects to shave $60,000 to $70,000 off its power bill this year and expects to pay for the investment within five years.

Assistant General Manager Brady Matoian, who pushed for his family business to go solar, called the city’s efforts exciting.

"We’re going to make it solar alley down here," Matoian said.

The city’s 665-kilowatt system is to be installed on the bus canopy — a football field-sized building — and several other canopies at the Municipal Service Center at El Dorado and G streets. Several hundred city employees work at the 14-acre yard.

"We want to have it up by April so we can take advantage of all the good sunlit months," said Gary Watahira of the General Services Department.

The solar panel project, to be installed by Berkeley-based PowerLight Corp., will cost $4.125 million. The city also will make the buildings more energy efficient by installing new lights and improving the heating and air-conditioning units for $600,000.

The city expects to receive a $2.062 million rebate as soon as the solar panels are installed. The city is taking out a low-interest, 15-year loan from the California Energy Commission to pay for the rest of the project and pay off the loan with the savings from its power bill.

City staff members project the system will save $4.6 million over 25 years, the panels’ expected lifetime.

Adam Browning of Vote Solar, a nonprofit solar advocacy group in San Francisco, said Fresno’s project will be one of the 10 largest of its kind on the West Coast.

He praised the City Council for committing to the solar panels, saying "they will be saving money from the first second they put it on their roof."

Added Browning: "I’m saying, what’s not to like here? You’re protecting the environment and you’re saving the money."

Duncan voted against the proposal Tuesday. He said the city staff did not account for the energy market’s volatility and gave a specific number of expected savings instead of a best-case, worst-case range.

He also said the main savings will come from the $600,000 of energy efficiency efforts in the first years, not the solar panels.

"It’s a sexy idea," Duncan said. "The city is really trying hard to do as much as we can to show leadership and do things like this, but, sometimes in the rush to get things done, we don’t look at things as critically as we can because we may not like the answer."

Council Member Mike Dages said he shared the same concerns about the numbers. He voted against the proposal because the city didn’t put the project out to competitive bidding.

The city could award a contract without competitive bidding, Watahira said, because PowerLight already has a federal contract and the city can piggyback on that contract.

Watahira said the city needed to award the contract as soon as possible because it faced a Dec. 14 deadline to receive the rebate. He said city staffers called several private and public references about PowerLight before taking the proposal to the City Council.

Perea said he felt comfortable that the staff thoroughly researched the numbers before recommending PowerLight.

"It’s a bold move and it’s the type of move that we as a city have needed to take," Perea said. "Whenever you try something different and outside of the box and one of the first of its kind, people get nervous about that."

The reporter can be reached at [email protected] or 441-6171.

© 2003, The Fresno Bee

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7869894p-8750283c.html

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