City reports school solar installations and EV-charger planning; missed year-end tax-credit deadline may affect design

City staff briefed the commission on several distributed solar projects and on efforts to site EV chargers alongside future work.

Staff reported the city has contracted Select Energy and submitted interconnection applications for a 120 kW AC array at Ryan Road Elementary and is moving forward on a roughly 250 kW canopy project at Jackson Street Elementary under a power-purchase agreement. "Select Energy is a contractor we're working with. They already submitted our application to interconnect," staff said.

Staff added that the city missed a year-end procurement deadline tied to tax-credit eligibility, meaning the team may redesign systems or select different modules; that could increase upfront cost but could also yield a larger tax credit if U.S.-manufactured panels are used. The canopy PPA structure allowed the vendor to qualify earlier and secure panels that keep the PPA rate lower.

Commissioners asked whether EV chargers could be integrated with the Jackson Street canopy. Staff said publicly funded EV chargers must be available to the general public to qualify for some grant programs, and school parking-lot use complicates that requirement; however, staff recommended trenching extra conduit during PV installation so chargers can be added later. Commissioners noted the EVIP (Volkswagen settlement) funding cycle and new National Grid programs for level-2 public chargers in 2026.

Staff also reported monitoring-platform and equipment issues at one site (Smith Volk) where the inverter or meter is intermittently failing; staff will troubleshoot and decide whether vendor engagement or site-level fixes are needed. No final contracts were awarded at the meeting; city staff expect additional contract and interconnection updates in coming weeks.