Hills-Beaver Creek pulls out of 'Solar On Schools' program

Hills-Beaver Creek School District withdrew its participation in the state’s “Solar On Schools” program in action taken at Monday night’s board meeting.
Board members accepted the recommendation from the board’s building/grounds committee, who met Oct. 6.
Superintendent Todd Holthaus told committee members that an updated analysis on solar production and anticipated utility rates lowered the annual savings to the district. Instead of a possible savings on electric usage, a detailed analysis indicated that the district would lose $18,886 over the next 25 years.
“We thought for education purposes it would still be worth it,” he said.
Under the program, the solar installation would be a part of the school’s curriculum for students to learn about green energy and its impact on the environment.
However, costs to remove the solar arrays from both the elementary and secondary schools for any roof repairs would be the district’s responsibility. Cost to remove the solar arrays from the roofs is estimated at $20,000.
Due to those removal costs, committee members Tim Bosch, Ethan Rozeboom, Chris Harnack and Dalton Bass opted to recommend to the board not to proceed in the program.
Instead, a similar program may be available through Sioux Valley Energy, which has already approached the district about a similar opportunity.
H-BC was preliminarily approved earlier this year for a $66,000 grant through the Minnesota Department of Commerce. The district would own the solar arrays and iDEAL Energies in Minneapolis would operate the arrays and purchase the generated electricity from iDEAL for 20 years.
However, lower-than-expected rates paid by the utilities for the generated electricity eliminated the potential energy savings to the district.