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Lewis County solar array cut 2024 energy bills by about $375,000, county staff say
Summary
Staff presented a solar-array performance report showing the county's 2.7 MW system at the Public Safety Building produced credits that reduced 2024 electricity charges by approximately $374,974; the county pays GreenSky Renewables a fixed 7.9' per-kWh PPA rate and receives credits from National Grid valued at 13-16'/kWh.
County staff reported that Lewis County's 2.7-megawatt solar array, installed behind the Public Safety Building and owned and maintained under a power purchase agreement by GreenSky Renewables, produced enough credits in 2024 to cut the county's net electricity bills by about $374,974.
Lauren Table (Presenter) explained the project background: the array covers about 10 acres and went live in February (year not specified in the presentation). Under the county's power purchase agreement, GreenSky owns and operates the system and the county buys the generated electricity at a fixed rate of 7.9 cents per kilowatt-hour. Energy produced by the array flows to the grid and the county receives monetary net-metering credits from National Grid, which staff said are valued between 13 and 16 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Table presented production metrics and capacity factors. She described the 2024 average capacity factor at about 12.3% and lifetime average near 10.7%, noting expected seasonal variability as winter months produce less energy. Staff described the method of calculating capacity factor (actual output divided by maximum theoretical output) and compared regional sunlight assumptions to realized production.
Staff listed the county's 24 National Grid meters and showed how credit allocation is distributed across county buildings. In 2024, total county energy usage was almost 7,000,000 kWh. Table showed the hypothetical charges without credits would have been $423,993; after applying solar credits the county paid $48,714 to National Grid, yielding a reported savings of $374,974.36 for 2024. The presentation also noted payments made to GreenSky under the PPA are correlated with system production: higher production increases PPA payments and vice versa.
Table provided a snapshot of net financial benefit after PPA (GRE) payments and noted incomplete data for some months in earlier years (2018 data missing May-February). Staff said they would continue to monitor production, credits and allocations for budget planning.
