At the recent Board of Education meeting for the Monmouth-Roseville School District, discussions on the topic of solar energy were held and how that would look within the district. Superintendent Ed Fletcher reports the Board did approve a resolution authorizing the cost of the project not to exceed $4.5 million in general obligation school bonds:
“They have not issued them yet, that is just there so if the Board decides to go with solar, we will have a funding source for the solar project. Keep in mind, projections of the project, the savings from our electric bill and the incentives for the project, actually paying for the project, we just have to front the money. We did find out that one of the rebates we would get, we projected it to be 30 percent, but it will be 40 percent, but still anytime you are talking about that large sum of money, and a payback of about 12 years. We borrow the money, we pay for the project, the project pays for itself. You don’t see really any savings until year 12, but after year 12, with this projection, you are looking at over a 13 year period, a little of $5 million of savings in the district.”
Superintendent Fletcher informs the Board has not approved the project yet, but they have approved site designs, which would construct ground arrays at Lincoln, the Junior High, and Willits, while the other buildings in the district would have roof arrays.
