Planning committee updates energy contract, pins schedule to $7 million in school construction grants
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Summary
District staff updated the planning committee on an expiring electricity supply rate (10.35¢/kWh), plans to add solar at new Norton and Barnum schools and two proposed fuel cells, and said progress hinges on obtaining roughly $7 million in school construction grant support and possible special legislation to allow TELP financing.
Vin Massiana told the Cheshire School District planning committee that the district’s electricity supply contract runs through October and is currently locked at 10.35¢ per kilowatt hour, and that consultants have been asked to prepare bids ahead of the expiration.
“We have an electricity supply rate that runs through October. We’re locked in our supply rate at 10.35¢ per kilowatt hour,” Massiana said. He said staff and consultants are preparing procurement options while accounting for changing district load from new buildings and planned solar installations.
Massiana said the school building committee has identified rooftop and ground‑mounted solar locations at the new Norton and Barnum schools and that the committee will be asked to allow conduit for the arrays to be installed now, with the school building committee advancing the cost and being reimbursed later through the energy performance contract. He described the district’s effort to align those investments with a pending school construction grant application he estimated at "about $7,000,000".
The update also covered two potential fuel‑cell projects: one located at Cheshire High School and another at the wastewater treatment plant. Massiana said Eversource provided a quote of about $2,370,000 to run a natural‑gas line to the treatment plant, and the district is negotiating with Eversource and Johnson Controls about cost sharing on that work.
On financing, Massiana said the district needs special legislation to use TELP financing while preserving eligibility for state school construction grants. He warned that pursuing bonding instead of TELP would likely push construction back until November; if legislation and grants come through quickly the district hopes to begin construction this summer.
What’s next: staff will continue work with Johnson Controls, the school building committee and legislators on grant approvals and TELP parity. The committee did not take a formal vote on the energy performance contract at the planning‑committee meeting; Massiana said the district will move forward with design and procurement steps if the legislative and grant timelines align.