Committee advances $1.33 million master subgrant agreement to install solar arrays at three school districts

The Cuyahoga County Education, Environment & Sustainability Committee on Sept. 17 voted to refer Resolution 20250269 — authorizing a master subgrantee agreement with participating school districts for a total amount not to exceed $1,331,982 — to the full council for second reading.

Valerie Katz, deputy administrator for Cuyahoga Green Energy, described the "solar for schools" program and said Department of Energy funds will be subawarded to three participating districts: East Cleveland City Schools, Maple Heights City Schools and Cleveland Municipal School District. Katz said the subgrants will fund installation of solar arrays on district buildings to provide energy savings, educational opportunities and a model for other districts. "This is our solar for schools program," Katz said.

Katz said the program will install solar on Shaw High School in East Cleveland, the high school in Maple Heights and Max Hayes High School in Cleveland — the latter chosen in part because it hosts vocational programs that could provide apprenticeships or training. She said the county has selected an installer and expects procurement to occur before the end of the year and installations to begin in spring, with the hope of completing work before June. Katz warned supply-chain and federal-tax-credit timing have created high market demand for panels.

Committee members asked about selection, funding timing, warranties and operations. Katz said the participating districts "self-selected" after the county pitched the program to superintendents via the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio. She said county grant funds are in the county treasury and will be drawn down as projects proceed. On warranties and lifespan, Katz said equipment and productivity warranties typically run 25 years and that inverters generally require replacement around 12 to 15 years.

Councilman Hauser recused himself from consideration of the resolution because of his role as executive director of the Bond Accountability Commission. Matt Ruby, business manager with the Department of Public Works, recommended against amending the resolution's end date on the floor because resubmitting an amended contract could require reapproval from all three districts; he said the faster course would be an internal contract amendment through the Board of Control. The committee briefly amended the contract end date to Dec. 31, 2026, then rescinded that amendment after staff and fiscal advice and instead voted to forward the original resolution to full council.

Katz noted the county previously received a separate $129,000,000 grant for solar on brownfields and landfills. She said system-size modeling is ongoing and that life-cycle savings for districts could amount to "hundreds of thousands of dollars" over a system's life depending on system size. Procurement of specific panels had not been completed at the time of the meeting.

The committee voted to favorably refer the resolution to the full council for second reading. The motion passed by voice vote; no opposition was recorded.