At the recent United School Board meeting, the district has updated their bus service contract and will enter a three year bus lease utilizing new busses beginning in the spring. For over a year the United board has discussed placing solar arrays at two of their campuses. Superintendent Jeff Whitsitt informs the board has granted approval in moving forward:
“Basically what we are doing is locking in a rate for 30 years. Our electric bill will be virtually the same. The rate is under a nickel per kilowatt hour, which to know those numbers and know what that rate if going to be for that time period is pretty slick. The arrays will land on our West and North Campuses. Those buildings will be served by those panels, like I said; we will pay that minimal rate for those campuses and the remainder that is harvested will be sold back to the grid by the company. By locking in on this rate deal like this, PPA they call it, we will not own it until the end of the 30 years. All the maintenance is covered. None of it is ours. There is really no cost to us in the whole thing. All we are doing is saving money over the life of the array.”
Whitsitt also stated that kiosks will be placed at the West and North campuses for students to learn and watch the solar array numbers as an addition to the science curriculum.
