Middleton committee declines purchase of MG&E-owned police-station solar array, approves battery funding

Middleton — The city’s Sustainability Committee voted unanimously to decline an option to purchase a 100-kilowatt solar array installed by MG&E and instead approved a separate change order to add battery storage to the police station solar project.

Bill Burns, the city’s finance director, summarized the 2016 lease and purchase agreement with MG&E and said the utility provided a buyout price of $81,733. Staff analysis found that after the agreement’s fair-market valuation method and an estimated after‑tax adjustment (about $22,000), the transaction would not provide a net financial benefit to the city. Burns told the committee the city also could pursue an appraisal process to dispute MG&E’s valuation but that the time, cost and uncertainty made that option unattractive.

"They provided the price that they would be willing to sell to the city, which came in at $81,733," Burns said. "When you combine those together, it just financially is not a net positive to the city." (Bill Burns, City finance director)

Committee members pressed staff for figures: the city currently purchases roughly $8,000 a year of energy produced by the array and staff estimated the system covers about 25% of the building’s load. Projected maintenance and inverter replacement costs and the array’s remaining useful life pushed the city’s projected payback period well beyond the array’s practical lifetime in staff modeling.

Alder Schaefer moved that the city not exercise the purchase option; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote with no nays. Members said the decision would free the $76,000 that had been budgeted for a purchase to be repurposed for other sustainability projects.

Separately, the committee approved a change order to add battery storage to the police station solar project, a measure advocates said would improve resilience and reduce peak electricity costs. Kelly (staff) described the battery as providing peak shaving and a manual islanding capability for limited backup power during outages while positioning the facility for a future automated microgrid.

"It really sets it up for a future islanded microgrid… it will provide peak shaving, meaning that it'll help the solar work more efficiently on the roof and lower the price of electricity there," Kelly said. (Kelly, staff)

Alder Schaefer moved to approve shifting roughly $29,700 to complete the battery/storage work; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

What’s next: Staff will not pursue purchase of the MG&E-owned array and will work to reallocate the budgeted capital toward prioritized sustainability projects, including advancing the police station battery/storage installation as approved by the committee.