City of Hutchinson leaders on Dec. 23 voted to accept a suite of community solar projects that staff say will install about $2.3 million in solar equipment across municipal and utility sites and reduce ongoing electricity costs across city operations.

Staff described the plan as participation in a statewide program in which $20 million was initially allocated (with Hutchinson taking part in the $15 million statewide portion). The city will rely on a combined state (roughly 70%) and federal (roughly 30%) funding match to cover most installation costs; after those matches, staff estimated the city's net out-of-pocket expense at about $73,500, with Hutch Utilities expected to contribute $26,002.50.

"We received all of the contracts from the state for all of the projects," a city presenter said, summarizing the tight timetable created when the federal program was moved up to 2026. Staff said 24 candidate sites were whittled to 19 projects (14 city/municipal sites and 5 Hutch Utilities sites), emphasizing primarily roof-mounted systems and three utility-focused ground arrays near water and wastewater facilities.

Planning and utility staff answered questions about vendor selection, warranties and prevailing-wage compliance. City staff noted a refundable 10% down payment would be required to satisfy federal "safe harbor" timelines and that the city has reviewed vendor insurance and prevailing-wage language. The presentation also flagged a potential liability figure near $500,000 connected to program funding uncertainties, though staff said their state contact believed the federal funding match was likely to be honored.

Council members stressed due diligence. One councilor asked whether sites had been fully inspected; staff said engineers had reviewed all sites and installers had visited many locations. City staff said structural or permit issues at particular roofs would remove those sites from the list and the 10% down payment would be refundable in such cases.

The council voted to approve the contracts and to proceed with signing developer agreements and final vendor contracts in the coming days, with installations expected to begin in spring and be substantially complete by fall 2026.

The approval follows staff projections that the systems could yield about $97,000 in 30-year savings citywide and roughly $30,000 in annual electricity savings to the general fund. Staff cautioned the projected payback estimates range from one to two years on some measures (covering engineering costs) to closer to nine to ten years in more conservative scenarios.

Next steps: staff will execute state contracts, sign agreements with installers, submit required down payments and return to council as needed for contract execution and project updates.