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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 that the city must "commence construction by July 4" or meet a 5% spend safe harbor to preserve the credit, and that failing to secure the credit could make the portfolio uneconomic.
Staff described two primary procurement/ownership approaches. Under a city‑owned model the city would issue debt or pay cash and procure operations and maintenance; under a "solar standard offer" a third party would own and operate systems and pay the city for rooftop/lot use, with Austin Energy buying the produced energy. Tim Harvey, director of Customer Renewable Solutions at Austin Energy, described tradeoffs: city ownership carries upfront capital and operational risk but retains full bill savings; the standard‑offer model requires no city capital and shifts production risk to the third party while generating lease‑style payments that could seed a revolving fund.
Committee members pressed staff on public access to the site list, phasing and how smaller local firms could participate. Staff said the 120‑property list is shareable, that phasing and sequencing will largely be driven by vendor proposals and capacity, and that the RFP will be structured to accept city‑owned, standard‑offer, or mixed proposals so some vendors can bid on smaller bundles. The Hampton Branch Library (about 8,400 sq. ft.) was confirmed as included on the list.
Staff said they plan a two‑phase procurement (qualifications then pricing), will evaluate proposals on a combination of scale, cost‑effectiveness and community benefits, and expect to receive responses between January and March, identify a preferred approach by March–April, and start construction April–June to meet the July safe‑harbor deadline. Staff also said worksite and labor protections will be included in contract language and that batteries will be an optional procurement item rather than required.
What the committee heard from the public: residents urged the committee to prioritize parks funding and to ensure smaller local firms can compete on smaller projects. Mark Murray, a District 5 resident in public comment, criticized recent parks budget cuts and urged stronger nonprofit accountability; his comments about nonprofit finances were presented as his observations and not verified by staff during the briefing.
Next steps: staff will publish the RFP materials and share the screened site list with council and committee members; the committee will track procurement milestones as bids arrive and staff develops a financing model.
