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Going solar — RE-1 takes final step
  
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By Norma Engelberg
The Cripple Creek-Victor RE-1 school board approved the final contract that will put 1,000 solar panels on school roofs.
The contact will assign energy credits and rebates to Black Hills Energy for the next 20 years. The solar system will be installed by a third party and energy produced will offset about one-quarter of the district’s energy usage.
“This was the last step in a long series of steps,” said board President Brent Kennedy. “We heard about this program about two years ago.”
The district was hunting for alternative energy sources when Kennedy found information about power purchase agreements, in which a third party buys, installs and maintains a system for a period of time. In this case, the third party is MP2, a California company. Black Hills gets to use the renewable energy credits to meet its state-mandated quota.
“The district gets the benefit of the solar power and increased excitement and educational opportunities for the school,” Kennedy said. “In the long run we hope we’ll increase our student count by having a system like this, the first school district in the state to have a big solar system.”
One board member, Tim Braun, voted against the contract because of a confidentiality clause he said wouldn’t allow the public to have access to information. The other board members disagreed, saying the language in the confidentiality clause doesn’t restrict public access to information that the school district is obligated by law to provide.
Four options for a new school-based health center to be built if grant requests are approved are on display at the district office. The board will not have pin down an option until grant approval notices are received.
The district also is seeking a grant to build a solar-powered geodesic dome greenhouse, which would one of only two school-based domes in the state. The greenhouse would allow students to learn, firsthand, how to grow fresh vegetables.
Fourth-grade teachers Kris Riley and Jan Hannah said they were told there is a 90 percent chance the grant request will be approved.
The contact will assign energy credits and rebates to Black Hills Energy for the next 20 years. The solar system will be installed by a third party and energy produced will offset about one-quarter of the district’s energy usage.
“This was the last step in a long series of steps,” said board President Brent Kennedy. “We heard about this program about two years ago.”
The district was hunting for alternative energy sources when Kennedy found information about power purchase agreements, in which a third party buys, installs and maintains a system for a period of time. In this case, the third party is MP2, a California company. Black Hills gets to use the renewable energy credits to meet its state-mandated quota.
“The district gets the benefit of the solar power and increased excitement and educational opportunities for the school,” Kennedy said. “In the long run we hope we’ll increase our student count by having a system like this, the first school district in the state to have a big solar system.”
One board member, Tim Braun, voted against the contract because of a confidentiality clause he said wouldn’t allow the public to have access to information. The other board members disagreed, saying the language in the confidentiality clause doesn’t restrict public access to information that the school district is obligated by law to provide.
Four options for a new school-based health center to be built if grant requests are approved are on display at the district office. The board will not have pin down an option until grant approval notices are received.
The district also is seeking a grant to build a solar-powered geodesic dome greenhouse, which would one of only two school-based domes in the state. The greenhouse would allow students to learn, firsthand, how to grow fresh vegetables.
Fourth-grade teachers Kris Riley and Jan Hannah said they were told there is a 90 percent chance the grant request will be approved.
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