The Longmont Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, made of the Longmont City Council, granted the LHA $150,000 from the city’s Renewable Power Purchase Program.
The Renewable Power Purchase Program is a “voluntary program by which any (Longmont Power and Communications) customer can choose to support renewable energy projects,” according to Scott Rochat, public relations and marketing specialist for LPC.
The funding will support purchasing a 165kW solar photovoltaic system — commonly known as a solar energy system — to offset electricity consumption at the Village on Main, at 600 Coffman St.
“By combining LPC funding for the infrastructure and LHA funding for the photovoltaic system itself , a commercial-scale system can be installed that’s large enough to provide a noticeable benefit to the property and demonstrate the possibilities for these installations. If the project had to rely on LHA funding alone, a much smaller system would need to be installed – the benefit would still be present, but would be minimal,” Rochat said via email.
The project includes installing a single meter for the entire property, eliminating electric service fees for the 72-unit affordable housing property. The installation of the solar energy system is expected to reduce energy costs to the property by $25,000 annually over the lifetime of the system, according to LHA board communications.
LPC will also gain an opportunity to explore and demonstrate multi-family solar metering through this project. The data collected will “influence the utility’s approach to distributed energy resources in this sector in the future,” according to board communications.
“This is a new kind of project for us, so we expect to get a lot of direct hands-on learning from this project, including: the impact of a larger PV system like this on our electric grid and nearby customers; the effects of inclement weather on the system; how much of the electricity generated is used by the building or pushed back on the grid and when it happens; how well our City processes accommodate and enable these kinds of installations; and much more,” Rochat said.
