At its Nov. 25 meeting, the Northampton Energy and Sustainability Commission received a progress update on three school energy projects and discussed financing and technical risks for a proposed geothermal system at the high school.

Commission staff reported that a planned parking canopy at Leeds Elementary proved unbuildable because of site slope and long conduit runs, so that project was dropped. The Jackson Street School canopy was redesigned to avoid a contested tree removal and is moving forward as a power‑purchase agreement; the school committee approved the plan unanimously and the city council will take a second reading on Dec. 4. Under the PPA, the city pays for electricity produced at a contracted rate rather than providing upfront capital for the array.

Staff said the Ryan Road solar project was reduced in size after engineers found the existing electrical service would require upgrades to support the original design. The smaller project is expected to be financed from the climate stabilization fund and has an estimated simple payback of about five years. Staff emphasized that projects remain optional and will not proceed if the economics deteriorate.

The commission spent substantial time on a proposed geothermal system for the high school. Staff cautioned that final performance won’t be guaranteed until drilling and well testing are complete, but noted two factors that could materially improve the project’s economics: reinfiltrating any drilling‑produced water to irrigate school fields could reduce projected costs by roughly $2,000,000, and earning alternative‑energy credits could generate about $1,000,000 over the first 10 years, applying toward debt service. “If we can manage to dispose of whatever water is produced through reinfiltration, basically just irrigating the sports field, [it] could save about $2,000,000 off of that project,” staff said.

Commissioners asked for more detail on procurement and risk management. Staff recommended a turnkey design‑bid‑build contractor able to guarantee 15 years of performance and monitoring to avoid problems seen elsewhere when multiple contractors delivered disjointed work. Commissioners also asked staff to obtain firm cost and duration terms for monitoring and for any interconnection impact studies (staff estimated an impact‑study expense on the order of $20,000).

Next steps: staff will follow up with drilled‑well testing, firm bids for turnkey offers, and the city council’s Dec. 4 second reading on the Jackson Street PPA. The commission did not take new votes on financing at this meeting.