Cuyahoga County officials advanced a time-sensitive contract with CEP Renewables on March 26, moving the measure to the full County Council with a recommendation for second-reading passage and suspension.

During a committee meeting, Valerie Katz, deputy administrator for Cuyahoga Green Energy, told members the substitute resolution would allow the county to enter contracts with CEP Renewables "not to exceed $18,900,000" to finance and construct a 6.5-megawatt expansion of the Brooklyn landfill solar array and to incorporate the Harvard Road landfill project if feasibility is confirmed. Katz said the Brooklyn Phase 2 work would add more than 12,000 domestically produced panels to a site that began producing power in 2018.

Katz said the Brooklyn build-out was estimated to cost $14,500,000, with roughly 60% (about $8.7 million) expected from Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) funds and the remainder (about $5.8 million) from direct-pay federal tax credits. She described the Brooklyn project as already integrated into Cleveland Public Power's distribution network through a virtual net‑metering arrangement and estimated two-decade net revenue of about $4,000,000. "We will be selling the power to CPP at a below market rate price," Katz said.

The substitute also anticipates a Harvard Road landfill project, described as a smaller, 2 MW installation on the southern portion of the Harvard site with an anticipated cost around $4.4 million and a similar 60/40 funding expectation. Katz said CEP Renewables holds land rights and was named in the grant as the sole-source developer approved by EPA.

Committee members pressed staff on several technical and programmatic points. Members asked how greenhouse-gas reductions were calculated; Katz said the CO2 figures in the grant application represent cumulative reductions through 2050. She also explained that CEP had already procured panels to "safe harbor" the projects for federal tax-credit eligibility and that some components require a Buy America/Build America waiver; "these panels need to be installed before June 2026," Katz said, noting the county must begin construction by that date under IRS/Treasury safe-harbor rules.

Councilman Schlepper raised questions about methane collection, land‑use around the Harvard site and the potential to expand solar to an adjacent Republic Waste/Warner Road Landfill in the future; Kurt Princik of CEP Renewables said that adjacent site is "definitely a candidate for solar in the future" but is not part of the current federal-grant deployment. Katz said the county is exploring plan‑B interconnections — including a potential direct tie to the county's new Central Services campus and discussions with FirstEnergy about using an existing right‑of‑way — after the city of Cleveland declined to participate in the originally planned interconnection for the northern Harvard portion.

On the question of contract protections, Jared Zabratowski in the county law department explained the substitute language would allow the county to direct certain payments to a third party in lieu of a payment bond so subcontractors are paid, describing the third party's role as similar to an escrow or title agent. Katz said industry-standard performance and production guarantees would be included in the contract to provide the county recourse if a project underperforms.

The committee adopted the proposed substitute by voice vote and voted to pass the item out of committee with a recommendation for second reading and suspension on the full council agenda the following Tuesday. The action will bring the substitute text and the underlying contract authorization before the full Council for further consideration.

The measure, as advanced, preserves contingency steps: the Harvard Road project will proceed only if feasibility is confirmed and any additional work would require an amendment back to the Council. Katz told members the county would coordinate with EPA grant staff if adjustments are necessary because of tax-credit or interconnection changes.