District business staff on Oct. 15 briefed the Dixon Unit School District 170 board on a solar vendor under consideration and outlined two proposal models and a procurement timeline tied to incentive deadlines.

The vendor presented two models: a seven-year model and a 15-year model. Under the seven-year option the district would have the ability to purchase the system at a fair market value (presented to the board as about $230,000) and the vendor offered a 0% interest loan structure to spread that purchase over 10 years if the district chose to buy later. Materials presented to the board also showed a per-kilowatt rate that would not escalate for the life of the power-purchase agreement, the presenter said.

Staff said the vendor estimated a roughly 12-month construction timeline if the board moves forward. Administrators warned that recent legislative and incentive timelines—referred to in the meeting as deadlines in "the one big bill"—mean the district would likely need to act on a PPA at the Nov. board meeting in order to preserve certain incentives.

The presenter said the vendor had done site reviews and advised against installing systems at the district office and one other low-load site because those locations would not produce value relative to project costs. The board did not take a vote on a contract; staff said they will continue negotiating contract language with the district attorneys and will invite the vendor to the Nov. meeting to present and answer questions.

The district asked board members to indicate whether they support continuing the process; board members expressed interest in receiving a finalized PPA and additional vendor detail next month.

No contract was executed at the Oct. 15 meeting. Staff emphasized legal review and time-sensitive stipulations in the vendor’s proposal.