The Background
Last fall, the city of Indianapolis, IN, announced that it would install solar panels on city-owned public works buildings to make them more efficient. The goal was for private companies to finance, build, own and operate the system, paying the city
The Update
The “Office of Sustainability” in Indianapolis has selected two companies to install the panels. Those companies will lease space on the rooftops, and sell electricity generated by the panels.
The Deal
The private companies will sign 10-year leases with a five-year renewal option. They will pay the city $10,000 for the fist year of each lease, and $1,000 for each following year. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, the city expects to generate approximately $24,000 in revenue at each site; the money will be used to support other sustainability projects in the city. The city would have the option of purchasing the panels at the end of the lease.
The city chose a local company, Johnson-Melloh Solutions, and the nearby Telamon Corp., to install the panels.
PR Benefit
The city and its mayor, Greg Ballard, have leveraged the moves to generate exceptional PR for the city. The city’s solar rooftop program is only one of several sustainability initiatives aggressive being pursued. The city has launched its own sustainability brand and Web site, “SustainIndy,” and publishes a newsletter and regular updates on its green building, and renewable energy programs.
Action Items
A video of Indianapolis’ sustainability program, which includes details on the solar plan, can be found here, and is also embedded below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayJ5EykSisw
The city also published a sustainability report in 2011 that covers a number of their “green roof” initiatives.
Original coverage of the solar plan from August of 2011 can be found here.
Gov1 has also identified a number of resources that may be helpful in considering similar moves. For example, The Solar Foundation published a very good six-page Briefing on “key considerations” for municipalities.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy’s “SunShot Initiative” provides a guide for local governments in building sustainable local solar markets:
Some of the legal basics of solar arrangements can be found in this brief, published by the law firm of Stoel Rives.
If you’re looking for sample RFPs for solar development projects, please refer to this joint RFP from the towns of Lee and Lenox, in Massachusetts. Also available are RFPs from Norwell, MA, and Monmouth, NJ.
If you’d like to see what a typical proposal to an RFP looks like, here’s one from Borrego Solar, which responded last year to an RFP from the town of Maynard, MA.