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Commissioners give staff permission to seek up to 30% county match for Blue Sky solar proposal at Search and Rescue building
Summary
County staff reported Rocky Mountain Blue Sky asked for a larger local contribution for a solar-plus-battery project at the Albany County Search and Rescue building; commissioners authorized staff to pursue up to a 30% county general-fund match and to resubmit the application.
County staff told the Albany County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 18 that Rocky Mountain Blue Sky (the Blue Sky grant program administered through Rocky Mountain Power) is seeking a higher local cost share to approve a proposed solar-plus-battery installation at the Albany County Search and Rescue (SARS) building.
Bailey, a county project manager, said the county’s earlier application proposed a 20% county general-fund contribution after removing an initial federal direct-pay incentive and narrowing the application to the SARS building. Bailey told commissioners that Blue Sky reviewers said they wanted a larger county contribution.
Bailey said the project would install ground-mounted solar panels north of the SARS building, with enough battery capacity to provide backup and to offset the building’s energy consumption. She said the panels were intended to be elevated so vehicles could park beneath them.
Commissioners pressed for details on payback and feasibility. One commissioner summarized prior conversations with the vendor, saying the county’s SARS project would reach energy neutrality relatively quickly compared with larger county facilities: the IT and courthouse projects had longer payback horizons (reported as roughly 14 and more than 20 years, respectively), while SARS was expected to reach payback in “maybe was it 7 or 8 years,” according to county staff.
Bailey said vendor Leo (Creative Energies) indicated that even a 50% county contribution would leave the project viable; she advised the board the Blue Sky selection committee had not provided a clear dollar target and had been inconsistent in its requests. The county and sheriff’s office noted financial sensitivity: the sheriff’s office expressed discomfort with any county match above 30% on this project.
The board gave staff discretion to resubmit the application and to negotiate a county match up to 30% of project costs from county general funds, limiting county exposure to the level the sheriff’s office considered acceptable. Commissioners did not make a formal appropriation at the meeting; staff will report back if Blue Sky requires a higher committed match or other binding conditions.
