At the May 28 BOE meeting, the Board approved commencing contract negotiations with Jua Capital for a solar system. During these negotiations, some concerns were not resolved and more concerns were identified:
- A reduced savings over the life of the project (25 years) from $1.66M to $1.3M
- Albany Children’s Center is not included in the portfolio
- The inability to meet NEM2 standards at Albany High School which limits its energy-generating capacity below target levels
- An additional canopy panel required at Marin in order to meet NEM2 standards
- Marin School will not see savings over life of project
- Increased size of canopy at AMS which threatens established oak tree
- Initial contract review by legal counsel expressed multiple concerns, including:
- Pricing and length of terms
- Amount of energy the District is required to purchase
- Termination rights
- Terms for maintenance for solar equipment
- Terms for repair and maintenance of District assets
- Easement conditions
- Timeline risk of not completing in time to maintain NEM2 grandfathering
- Soft costs of approximately $300,000 for which the District is responsible
- School site disruption:
- Construction during the school year
- Construction noise and dust
- Large areas of school sites closed to students
- Weather constraints
With these concerns, the District does not suggest that we proceed with placing a solar energy system at this time. We hope that there will be better options for AUSD in the near future. The District is already using 100% sustainably produced energy from AVA Community Energy, including both solar- and wind-generated energy. This energy is produced in areas that are better suited to large-scale energy production than our tight school sites. We remain committed to climate action and will continue working on the goals defined in the Environmental Action Plan.