Students and city officials push for solar PPAs for Charlottesville High and Middle Schools

Students, community partners and city sustainability staff pressed the Charlottesville City Schools board to move quickly on power purchase agreements (PPAs) that would put large rooftop solar arrays on Charlottesville High School and Charlottesville Middle School.

Crystal Riddlevall, director of the City of Charlottesville Office of Sustainability, said the PPA model lets a private developer finance, build and operate a system on school property while the district buys the electricity at a negotiated rate for a 15–25 year term, avoiding upfront capital costs and allowing the developer to claim a federal investment tax credit. Riddlevall said preliminary proposals and interconnection studies indicate combined 25-year avoided costs for the two schools of about $4,000,000 and that executing agreements promptly is critical to capture current federal incentives.

The PPA presentations built on student testimony earlier in the meeting. Several students from Charlottesville High School's environmental club asked the board to support item 12.1; one student, Solomon Schwartzman, told trustees that installing solar would advance the city's climate goals while offering an economic path to long-term greener energy for schools.

Madison Energy, the developer partner described at the meeting, said the company has delivered solar projects for schools nationwide and would provide a curriculum-integration program for students, including interactive lessons and live production dashboards tied to the rooftop systems. Board members asked whether students or families would be required to use devices to access program materials; Madison representatives and staff said printed options and teacher-led instruction would remain available.

Board members pressed staff on technical and contractual details: Riddlevall said CHS's rooftop system would offset roughly 70% of the school's annual electricity use while CMS could accommodate a system sized to meet about 100% of that building's usage. Staff warned that deadlines associated with the federal tax credit and Dominion Energy interconnection studies create urgency: Dominion must be authorized to begin grid upgrades only after agreements are signed because those upgrades become direct project costs.

Riddlevall and the developer emphasized that the PPA model transfers operations and maintenance responsibility to the developer for the contract term and typically guarantees a predictable energy price that is projected to yield year‑one savings and growing avoided costs over time. The board did not take a final vote on the PPAs at this meeting; staff said they will return with finalized agreements for the board's consideration once negotiations and final engineering are complete.