Albany County to pursue Rocky Mountain Power grant, apply for federal direct pay for Search and Rescue solar project

The Albany County Board of Commissioners voted to pursue a Rocky Mountain Power Blue Sky grant that would cover 40% of a proposed solar-and-battery installation for the county Search and Rescue building and to apply for the federal direct-pay incentive that would cover 30%, leaving an estimated county responsibility of roughly $62,162 if both awards are realized.

The proposal matters because, with the incentives described to the board, the county’s consultant said the project’s estimated payback would be roughly 12 to 14 years, shorter than the expected service life of the solar panels. "With the incentives, I believe that the payback in the proposal that we came up with was about 12 to 14 year payback," the project representative Leo told commissioners. The county would also see ongoing bill reductions once the…