City staff outlines fast-tracked RFP to add solar on roughly 120 city properties

Summary

City staff told the Climate, Water, Environment and Parks Committee they have screened roughly 250 facilities, narrowed the list to about 120 sites and expect the market to deliver around 75 sites with up to 25 MW of solar capacity; staff said a July 'safe-harbor' deadline to secure a 30% federal tax credit requires an aggressive RFP schedule.

Zach Baumer, director of Austin Climate Action and Resilience, told the committee on Dec. 2 that staff plan to issue a request for proposals (RFP) in the coming weeks to add solar across city facilities and that timing is tight to preserve federal tax credits.

Baumer said staff assessed more than 250 city properties and narrowed that list to about 120 that look feasible for solar. "We think it's likely that we, will likely have about 75 city facility sites picked up, with a potential of 25 megawatts AC and capacity," Baumer said, adding that "25 megawatts of solar is big." He cautioned that final costs and payback will depend on returned bids.

Why it matters: staff said the federal investment tax credit is phasing down and the project's ability to tap a 30% direct payment is time‑sensitive; Baumer told the panel…

City staff outlines fast-tracked RFP to add solar on roughly 120 city properties

Summary

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