The installation of solar panels at several Santa Maria high schools began on Oct. 23, and the new solar energy systems are expected to save the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District millions in utility fees.
Parking lots at Pioneer Valley and Ernest Righetti high schools, and a grassy area at Delta High School, will be under construction until December during the installation process, according to district Public Information Officer Kenny Klein. Santa Maria High School, he said, will also have panels installed once construction on the campus’ new facilities is finished.
Once completed, Klein said students and staff will be able to park under the solar panels at Pioneer Valley and Righetti, and the panels at Delta will provide a shaded area of grass. At the district office, solar panels will also be installed on the roof of the school bus parking area.
“It’s a great use of space,” Klein said.
The panels are also expected to be a great use of funds. The installation and equipment being used are free of charge, Klein said, because of a 20-year solar power purchase agreement the district contracted with OpTerra Energy Services.
A power purchase agreement, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association’s website, allows a developer to build a solar energy system on a customer’s property at little to no cost to the customer. The developer—in this case OpTerra—then sells the power generated through the energy system to the customer—the school district—at a lower than retail price. The developer, according to the website, remains responsible for operation and maintenance of the energy system while receiving tax credits and income from electricity sales to the customer.
After 20 years, the agreement between OpTerra and the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District could be extended another five. The district pays nearly $1 million in electricity bills each year, Klein said. But in the 2018-19 school year, the power purchase agreement is expected to save the district $140,000 in utility costs. Over 25 years, Klein said the agreement should save the district an estimated $7 million.
The possible savings come at an integral time for the school district, according to Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Yolanda Ortiz, which recently discovered its costs of retirement pension payouts would increase by $1 million each year for the next several years. The district employs several hundred teachers and staffers, most of whom are enrolled in retirement plans through the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) or the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), companies that both face undercut pension funds.
“The savings will help us offset future increases in retirement costs,” Ortiz said.
The district’s board of education approved the solar power purchase agreement with OpTerra on June 20. The energy company was selected based on its cost savings ability through a competitive request for proposals process, according to board meeting minutes from May.
Although OpTerra couldn’t comment directly on its agreement with the school district out of “sensitivity to [the] customer,” a communications manager said in an email that the company has worked with more than 70 public K-through-12 school districts, community colleges, and higher education institutions in California to develop similar energy programs.
OpTerra’s website says the company has helped its customers save more than $2 billion in utility fees.
Parking will be temporarily impacted at one of Santa Maria’s solar construction sites until December, according to Klein. Students, staff, and faculty at Righetti will be able to park in the lot of a nearby church. The other schools, Klein said, should have enough street parking to suffice for about a month until fall semester ends and students leave for winter break. With the upcoming holiday season, Klein said students will only be in school for about 20 days of construction.
“So it’s pretty good timing,” he said.
Staff Writer Kasey Bubnash wrote this week’s School Scene. Information can be sent to the Sun via mail, fax, or email at [email protected].
