DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA) — The City of Decatur is hoping to shine light on a project focused on clean energy.
The multi-million dollar summer project won’t cost the city anything but will add 2,600 solar panels to the Decatur Civic Center parking lot.
A solar energy company in Peoria is paying for the private project. The city entered into a 20-year power purchasing agreement, and officials say this gives them some needed consistency on their power bills.
“It can be a role model to other jurisdictions and other communities,” said Deputy City Manager Jon Kindseth.
Two-thirds of the parking lot will soon be covered by solar canopies.
“It will essentially provide 95% of the power needs for this building that we’re sitting in,” Kindseth said. “And that includes the city offices and the ice arena itself. And the ice arena, as you can imagine, is a big electrical user. And so it will provide all of that power for this facility.”
Kindseth estimates the new system will shave $100,000 off the energy bill every year.
“That savings is expected to grow in time because energy costs have gone up faster than inflation has and certainly faster than the inflationary factor that’s in our power purchase agreement,” Kindseth added. “And so the private company is the one that really incurred the capital cost and the risk associated with the project.”
City Communications Manager Ryan Huffer says the advantages are clear.
“(It) shows that we have a commitment to sustainability, and it shows that we’re really trying our best to cut down on our energy costs as well,” Huffer said. “So I think that the citizens are. Whether you believe in solar or not, the point is, is that we’re getting savings and we’re getting covered parking out of it at really no expense to the city.”
The project is currently the largest solar energy plan in town, but not the last.
“The feasibility of a lot of the city’s facilities back in 2021, which started and led this project, we’re updating that feasibility now, and the two current projects that are likely to move forward next are Decatur Public Library as well as one of the fire stations and our water pump station,” Kindseth said.
He said the city has begun putting out requests for bids for solar panels on both the Decatur Public Library and Fire Station 2. This would require City Council approval and would happen likely in 2026 or 2027.
With the goal to bring stability and savings to city pockets.
“To move the city towards a lower carbon footprint and, more importantly than that, try to save the taxpayers money so that we can provide protection against future energy increases,” Kindseth said.
The area itself will remain a parking lot once construction wraps up next month. Right now, people aren’t able to park in that portion of the lot, but they will be able to when it’s completed.
Kindseth said the physical infrastructure like the canopies and steel poles will be up by mid-July. The city hopes to start getting the energy by the end of October.
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