The Cortez City Council recently approved new lease purchase agreements with Shaw Solar to install solar panels at the city’s animal shelter and golf course maintenance building.
The agreements come after the city started a similar solar project for City Hall, and staff members have been searching for other sites where solar installations would be practical.
According to Shaw Solar, a Durango-based solar contracting company, both systems would be fully paid back after 10 years of operation. They are expected to be installed in August.
“The sooner you do it, the sooner you can start banking for next winter,” said Mike Ellis, who leads business and finance operations with Shaw Solar, during a workshop before the Tuesday council meeting. “So if you wait until November or December, then you wouldn’t have much of a bank coming into the winter. So this allows you to get a running start.”
The council unanimously approved the agreements during the regular meeting.
The animal shelter is set for a 9-kilowatt solar system, and the golf maintenance building for an 11-kW system. Both sites will have a six-year lease agreement, during which time Shaw Solar will be monitoring and maintaining the systems.
Lease agreement cost for the animal shelter will total $21,902, while the agreement for the golf maintenance building will be $27,632. These totals include the 2019 start-up costs, yearly lease payments, and the final year’s buy-out.
Rick Smith, the city’s general services director, said that the city’s Equipment Fund can sufficiently cover these costs.
According to Smith, the animal shelter’s system will produce 15,000 kilowatt-hours per year, for a potential savings of $61,007 over a 25-year period, based on an annual rate hike of 3% by the Empire Electric Association.
The golf maintenance building’s system will produce 18,789 kWh per year, for a possible savings of $76,417 over a 25-year period.
According to Smith, the city of Cortez is already seeing positives from the recently installed City Hall solar panels. “Last month’s electric bill for City Hall was a $54 credit,” he said.
That credit gets banked for next winter, Ellis added.
Councilors were all supportive.
“Anytime you can have that foresight, and at the end of the day we’re saving taxpayers money, I think that’s a win-win for everyone,” said councilman Ty Keel during the workshop.
Mayor Karen Sheek asked about the possibility of incorporating solar panels into other buildings.
Ellis replied that they recently put in two large arrays for the Cortez Sanitation District, and are in conversations with Montezuma County commissioners to determine what other buildings might be good sites for solar installation.
ealvero@the-journal.com
