Durango School District 9-R announced last week its partnership with Veregy LLC to provide solar power to multiple institutions.

Six schools, including Durango High School, will receive solar panels. The partnership will also include the addition of LED lighting in all district schools except Miller Middle School and the Impact Career Innovation Center.

Entities often tend to avoid using solar energy because of cost restraints. On average, an initial investment in solar energy can cost $140,000 to $500,000. In the case of the district, the total cost of the project is $7.2 million.

The district has taken out a loan in order to fund the project.

“The really unique aspect of this project is that it is completely budget neutral,” said 9-R Chief Operations Officer Chris Coleman.

The district predicts that the total investment, including LED lighting and building-envelope upgrades, will save millions of dollars in utility costs over the next 20 years. Coleman says the investment completely pays for the project and includes additional net savings in the general budget.

“The offset of utility savings that are projected will reimburse the loan and then some,” he said. “We will actually start to see savings the minute these things are energized that will start to offset the debt basically that we have to pay back on the loan.”

The program is leveraging close to $2.5 million in lighting rebates and federal solar incentives to help pay for the project.

The move toward solar energy created a two-pronged solution for the district. It allowed the district to save money on energy costs while getting ahead of the mandates associated with recent Colorado green energy legislation.

“There are some state mandates that are in place that will require public buildings over 50,000 square feet to reduce energy consumption by 7% by 2026 and 20% by 2030,” Coleman said.

This is part of Colorado Senate Bill 23-198, which seeks to achieve at least a 46% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions created by public entities by 2027.

“That’s in the back of our mind, certainly, Coleman said. “We need to be working toward meeting those benchmark targets set by the state, but bigger picture, this is just something that the Long Range Planning Committee and Sustainability Committee has been talking about well before the state ever announced those (regulations).”

The solar panels and lighting savings are expected to reduce the district’s carbon emissions by 1,836 metric tons annually, which is equivalent to taking 409 gasoline-powered cars off the road each year, according to a news release from the district.

The partnership between the district and Veregy was in response to La Plata Electric Association moving toward net billing this year.

LPEA spokeswoman Amanda Anderson later clarified that the organization had not changed its net metering policy.

“In 2023, LPEA's Board did vote on a proposed net-metering tariff to apply only to systems below 50 kW. This did not pass when it was put to a vote in December. In the proposed and rejected tariff, only systems larger than 50 kW would have been subject to a Qualifying Facilities tariff that would have purchased energy at slightly above LPEA's avoided cost,” Anderson said in an email on Wednesday.

Under net metering, surplus energy created by the solar panels is sold back to LPEA’s grid at a retail rate. But with net billing, the credits earned from the excess energy generated by solar panels enables the user to sell that energy to the utility, typically at the wholesale rate.

“We were fortunate in working with Veregy to be able to get our applications submitted and take advantage of a net metering environment,” Coleman said. “This will ultimately save the district even more money under the project compared to net billing.”

The usage of solar panels is becoming a trend for larger buildings in the area. In August 2022, Main Mall owner Ted Hermesman decided to install 600 solar panels on the structure.

He told The Durango Herald at the time that the move would offset about 50% of the Main Mall’s electricity usage and carbon emissions. This also allowed the mall owner to have a consistent price for kilowatt production.

In addition to switching to solar energy and LED lights, the district is also starting building-envelope projects.

“It is basically sealing the interior and exterior windows and doors, putting in new weather stripping, caulking and sealing pipe and electrical penetrations throughout the building,” Coleman said. “You just want to create a tighter envelope so that all that energy that’s coming in and you’re using inside stays inside, and that cold air from outside doesn’t seep in.”

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, buildings with energy-efficient envelopes can potentially save up to 20% to 30% of energy consumption.

The project is scheduled to start in early spring and is expected to be completed in just under a year.

The district plans for all its schools to use solar energy and are awaiting the approval of two interconnection applications to complete the process for the remaining schools.

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