Greenbelt officials say new solar farm will supply roughly 60% of city electricity; savings depend on contract pricing
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Summary
Public Works staff told the council a pending solar farm should generate about 60% of the city's electrical load and will be treated as behind‑the‑meter generation even though it is sited off‑site; the city will compare the farm's 20‑year kilowatt pricing with new energy contracts to calculate net savings.
Public Works Director Brian Kim told the Greenbelt City Council that a solar farm the city has contracted to receive generation from should be online imminently and is expected to offset about 60% of the city's electricity consumption. “It will offset about 60% of electricity consumed at the city,” Kim said.
Kim explained the project is a behind‑the‑meter arrangement: although the array is located about 10 miles outside the city, Pepco will treat the farm’s output as a credit against the city’s accounts. “Any kilowatt that is generated will be deducted from all of our accounts…because it's behind the meter,” Kim said. He added staff do not expect the farm to exceed 100% of the city's consumption and said any extra generation would translate into account credits.
How savings will be calculated
Kim and City Manager Josue Semoran said the city will compare the farm’s 20‑year schedule of kilowatt costs with pricing from an energy supplier the city will procure once the farm generates sufficient production data. Kim said the vendor provided multiple scenarios; the 20‑year profile will determine whether and when the city realizes net savings for kilowatt and delivery charges. “In short, we will see some savings…more importantly, we're also doing our part to contribute local generation,” Kim said.
Next steps
Staff said they are waiting for production data from the array before soliciting pricing for a replacement energy contract and that they will bring savings estimates to council once they can compare the solar schedule to supplier proposals.
