City of Montpelier Invests in 1 Megawatt of Solar

Thanks to the efforts of the Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee, the City of Montpelier is getting a significant portion of its electricity from the sun. Partnering with Novus, a Montpelier-based firm specializing in the development of solar powered projects, the city government has entered into a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement for municipal electrical use. This month the first 500KW array located in Sharon, Vermont came on line and the power produced is shared by the city and the Montpelier school district. A second 500KW array will be built off Log Road in Montpelier. Still in the permitting phase, this project will come on line in the fall of 2017. 100% of the energy produced from the second array will help to offset municipal power consumption.

Sharon 500 kW solar array

Over the 20 year contracts, these two solar arrays combined will save the City and schools approximately $50,000 per year, and provide about 55% of the City’s total municipal electrical usage.

The best news for taxpayers? The City of Montpelier will not pay for any of the costs to build or maintain these systems. Equally important, these solar arrays will help the city achieve our 2030 goal to become the first Net Zero state capital in the United States!

“This is a great step forward in the city’s efforts to become the first Net Zero state capital,” said Mayor Hollar today. “My thanks to the Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee and city staff for negotiating these agreements. I look forward to the Montpelier-based array off of Log Road.”