Board authorizes administration to finalize net-metering deal with city, expects modest revenue

The Concord School District board voted to authorize the administration to finalize a net-metering agreement with the city and the district’s and city’s energy procurement partners, a move staff said will generate direct annual payments to the district when a new solar farm goes online.

Finance staff (speaker 2) described a two-stage offtake: in the near term the district expects to take on roughly 2.25 million kilowatt-hours from Essex Hydro’s contract release and receive approximately $33,750 in direct payments at $0.10 per kilowatt-hour; when the Kearsarge Energy solar portion is fully online, staff estimated the district could take about 3.7 million kilowatt-hours and receive roughly $56,000 annually based on the same per-kWh assumption.

“We estimate for a year that would equate to about $33,750 at 10 cents a kilowatt hour,” the finance presenter said, noting the calculations are estimates and that the final payment depends on contract terms and the per-kilowatt-hour rate.

The finance committee had recommended the authorization; the full board later approved a motion to allow the administration to work with the city and the vendors (Essex Hydro and Kearsarge Energy) to finalize an agreement. The board recorded a voice vote in favor and discussed a disclosure noting that an incoming board member works for Essex Hydro; members said they would keep contracting and governance processes separate.

Next steps: staff will finalize contract language with the city and vendors, propose how to record payments in the district budget (staff suggested an energy risk reserve), and return with a finalized agreement for implementation.