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Fishers restarts police-station solar project; staff cites federal DOE reimbursement and tariff-driven cost increase
Summary
The Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety approved two contract amendments on July 29 to resume a police-station solar installation procured from Simply Indy LLC, which staff said is reimbursable through a Department of Energy grant.
City staff told the Fishers Board of Public Works and Safety on July 29 that work on a police-station solar project has resumed after a pause following the 2024 federal election, and the board approved two separate amendment items tied to the same project.
Ross Hillery of the Department of Community and Economic Development said the city originally bid the project under a Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant awarded in April 2024 and executed contracts in November 2024 with Simply Indy LLC. After a federal pause, the project restarted and staff sought formal approval of two contract amendments to continue the scope of work. Hillery said the amendments reflect an increase in project cost tied to tariff changes and that the project will be reimbursed through the DOE grant.
When asked where the power goes once installed, Hillery said the city has an interconnection application with Duke Energy and that excess generation will be exported to the grid; the city will receive reimbursement for exported power under that utility arrangement. “So it goes back into the grid and we get reimbursed for excess funds,” Hillery said. He added the projected return on investment was expected around year 10 of a 25-year system life under current estimates.
Board members moved and seconded separate votes on the two amendment items; both motions carried by voice vote. Staff said the items are related and must be approved separately for contractual and grant-administration reasons.
City staff did not present an unambiguous consolidated dollar figure for the overall increase during the meeting. Hillery referenced an increase “based off of…Indy’s information…around tariff increases” but the numeric value cited in the spoken record as $15.95 appears inconsistent with other project-scale costs and was not further clarified in the meeting. The board approved the amendments and staff said the changes are eligible for DOE reimbursement.
