The Richland County Community School District 1 Board of Education voted unanimously to approve a letter of intent and lease-option agreement with Keystone Power Holdings to develop community solar arrays on district-owned land.

The board’s vote, moved by Mister Henderson and seconded by Mister Anderson, followed a presentation by Anthony Fotopoulos of Keystone Power Holdings outlining a two-site plan that would dedicate 20% of the arrays’ output to the district. Fotopoulos said that, under the current state credit values, the district could erase about 64% of its electricity bill in the first year and realize roughly $90,000 in net bill-credit savings in year one after paying the discounted subscription rate to Keystone.

Keystone described two conceptual sites east of town and near the bus depot, sized at roughly 2.5 megawatts and 3.5 megawatts in the company’s conceptual designs. Fotopoulos said Keystone would pay a lease that he described as “above market” for farmland — roughly $1,300 per acre initially — and projected about $19,000 annual lease revenue for roughly 15 acres in the example used in the presentation. He said lease payments increase in $300 steps every 10 years in the company’s proposed schedule.

The district’s approval is an agreement to a short letter of intent (LOI) and lease option while Keystone pursues detailed development work and utility approval. Fotopoulos stressed that the project requires state funding approval through the Illinois program known in the presentation as the public-school portion of the Illinois Shines program and utility interconnection approval from Ameren; he said the utility review can take one to two years.

Under the proposed structure, the district must own the land the arrays occupy and would receive 10–40% of the project's output (Keystone proposed a 20% allocation in this presentation). Keystone would build, own and operate the arrays and sell the remaining output to community subscribers at a modest discount; the school would receive its allocated credits as bill credits. Fotopoulos described additional incentives and federal/state supports that improve the project economics, and said Keystone would pay option payments during the development period (an initial $1,000 after 90 days and recurring option payments thereafter) and keep the site farmed until construction begins.

Board members asked about fencing, maintenance responsibility and the decommissioning bond; Fotopoulos said each field would be fenced, Keystone would maintain areas inside the fence and would work with the district on trimming around the parcel edge, and that decommissioning bonds are commonly required by counties. Legal counsel and the district’s lawyer, Luke Feeney, have already reviewed the draft documents, the superintendent said.

The motion passed on a roll call with Mister Wilson, Mister Anderson, Mister Henderson, Mister Snyder, Mister Leist, and Missus Bailey voting yes.

Keystone will now proceed under the LOI and option to seek final utility approvals and apply for state program credits; the board’s vote authorizes staff to sign the documents discussed.