Board approves school solar and fuel-cell plans, citing federal tax credits and guaranteed savings

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,…