West Irondequoit board approves $16 million energy performance contract after presentation on solar and upgrades

The West Irondequoit Central School District board voted unanimously July 1 to approve an energy performance contract (EPC) that district staff and consultants said will fund energy efficiency upgrades across district buildings and add about 1.5 megawatts of rooftop solar.

During a presentation before the vote, Eric McQuinn of CDL said the project "was really to kind of enhance the energy efficiency across the district, reduce energy consumption" after describing an investment‑grade audit and facility assessments conducted by the EPC team. Doreen Hamilton of ESG reviewed the proposed energy conservation measures, which the presenters said number about 10 and include LED lighting, building envelope upgrades, mechanical and boiler work, controls upgrades, steam trap repairs at the high school, and plug‑load controls.

Hamilton and other presenters gave the board a financial summary for the package: an estimated project cost of $16,000,000; state aid covering an estimated 88.1% of eligible costs; approximately $2,700,000 in identified rebates; an estimated guaranteed annual energy savings of about $756,000; and projected positive annual cash flow of roughly $597,000. Presenters said the investment‑grade audit underpins the savings guarantee and that CPL reviewed the technical work.

Board members asked for and were shown that renderings and site plans exist for the solar installations; presenters said those graphics and monthly construction photos would be made available for district communications. Technical questions about the solar array — including whether the quoted 1.5‑megawatt figure describes system capacity or expected output — were answered by EPC staff, who said 1.5 MW is the system size and that typical annual energy production averages about 1,100 kWh per kW, with daily and seasonal variation. Presenters also noted they completed preliminary interconnection work with the utility and would account for any needed transformer or grid upgrades in the design and permitting phase.

Several operational questions were raised: whether FAA flight‑path rules would affect panel siting, how long panels last and what preventive maintenance entails, and whether carport‑mounted arrays had been considered. Presenters said FAA and structural reviews are part of the detailed design, the expected panel lifetime is roughly 20–25 years, preventive maintenance is largely monitoring production and addressing anomalies, and carports were evaluated but removed from the current scope for cost reasons.

The board first approved a SECRA environmental review resolution clearing the project as a Type II action under the local threshold and then voted to approve the energy audit and EPC as presented. The motion to approve the energy audit and EPC carried 7–0.

Next steps identified by the team included CPL completing design documents for submission to the State Education Department (SED), an anticipated SED review window of roughly 3–5 weeks, issuing an RFP for financing (typically tax‑exempt financing for such projects), and a construction period estimated at 12–18 months once financing and permits are in place.

District officials said student engagement — panels, classroom activities, and building walk‑throughs — has been and will remain a component of the project, intended to connect the work to learning about energy use and careers in the field.

The board’s approval allows the district to move to detailed design and financing steps but does not itself commit to construction until those follow‑on processes are complete.