NC DEAL FOR RALEIGH SOLAR POWER PLANT

Raleigh land to sprout solar panels; Project could power 200 homes
David bracken, July 8, 2009 (Raleigh News & Observer)

"Ten city-owed acres at Raleigh's southeastern edge will soon be used to generate solar electricity under a plan approved by the City Council…The project, a public-private partnership involving Progress Energy Carolinas and two other companies, will allow Raleigh to burnish its green credentials without investing any taxpayer money.

"The deal calls for Raleigh to lease 10 acres of farmland next to its Neuse River Wastewater Treatment Plant to Morrisville-based Southern Energy Management and Charlotte-based NxGen Power. The two companies will install solar panels that are expected to generate 1.7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year…the energy used by 200 homes annually, or the amount of power required to operate the wastewater treatment plant for a month."

NC is one of the few states with a "solar carve out." (click to enlarge)

"The installation, which is expected to be in operation by early next year, will be the state's largest solar installation on property owned by a local government…Progress Energy has agreed to buy all the electricity produced for the first 20 years the system is in operation. Raleigh will have the opportunity to buy the system from Southern Energy and NxGen after six or seven years."

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"The project is the fifth, and largest, solar-array installation announced by Progress Energy Carolinas since the company sent out a request for such projects last year…Progress and other utilities are under pressure to comply with legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2007…[requiring] utilities such as Progress get at least 3 percent of their retail sales from renewable energy sources [and solar energy] by 2012…

"The project is part of a larger effort by Raleigh officials to make the city more energy-efficient…[T]he cost of the solar installation [is estimated] at $8.5 million…[T]he success of the project could help the city determine whether additional solar installations would make sense…"