The Cheshire Board of Education on Aug. 14 approved educational specifications to install rooftop solar systems at six schools and a natural-gas fuel cell at Cheshire High School after a presentation outlining project costs, rebates and guaranteed savings.
The planning presentation said the first phase’s hard costs are about $19.5 million and that with fees and overhead the total project cost for the phase is about $23.4 million. The board was told the town expects roughly $6.6 million in rebates and school construction grants and an estimated $4.6 million in Inflation Reduction Act benefits tied to timely construction, producing a net cost for this phase of about $12 million.
“This initiative has been expedited because we don’t want to lose that IRA benefit,” the presenter said, describing a tight schedule that requires applying for a nonresidential energy-savings (NRES) incentive by Aug. 27 and completing a construction threshold by December to preserve eligibility.
The presenter told the board Johnson Controls will guarantee the district about $1,085,300 a year in energy savings; “If we fall short of that … Johnson Controls writes us a check to make up the difference every year,” he said. The presenter also noted Energia is the owner’s representative validating Johnson Controls’ proposals.
Board members asked technical and financial questions about generator sizing, the lifetime of roofs and panels, warranties and how excess generation would be credited. The presenter said the solar and fuel-cell production could be net-metered or credited across town accounts under virtual net metering and estimated annual generation at roughly 4,075,000 kilowatt-hours against town usage of about 6,000,000 kWh.
After discussion, the board took separate votes on the educational specifications for each site. Motions to approve specifications for Norton, Barnum, Cheshire High School (fuel cell plus solar), Doolittle, and Highland passed unanimously. The motion for Dodd Middle School passed by a 3–1 vote (one member said placing panels on the current middle school was short-sighted given long-standing public interest in building a new middle school).
The board will use projected energy savings, rebates and incentives to help finance the project; the presenter said the assumed financing rate in project materials is 4.75 percent and that the town will issue a tax-exempt lease RFP to finance the work. He said the district will own installed equipment from day one and that annual excess cash flow is planned to fund additional capital projects (for example, air conditioning at Doolittle).
Board members and staff emphasized engineering checks for roof load and snow, contract review by the town attorney and the role of Energia in validating structural and production assumptions. The town council approved the Johnson Controls contract on Aug. 12, and presenters said remaining contract negotiation points are minor and not expected to block the timeline.
The board approved the six educational-specification motions required for the state school construction grant application process, allowing staff to move forward with grant filings and the accelerated construction timeline.