Mendocino County Supes Vote to Cancel Solar Project
Project will not meet savings projections
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to cancel a long-stalled solar energy contract with Ameresco after new financial projections revealed the project would lose money rather than save it.
The decision to abandon the energy-saving performance project followed a review by a county ad hoc committee, which found that the proposal no longer met the board’s two primary requirements: reducing the county’s carbon footprint and lowering ongoing energy costs.
“This is a project where we’re going to lose money,” said Supervisor Ted Williams. He noted that the project violated the core fiscal requirements set at its inception.
A primary factor in the project’s collapse was a dispute over “energy escalation” rates. Ameresco’s cash flow models assumed energy costs would rise by 6.5% annually over 25 years. However, data from the city of Ukiah showed actual growth rates closer to 2.85% over the last 30 years.
“We’re not going to beat them installing solar within their service area,” Williams added, pointing out that the city of Ukiah does not offer net metering, meaning the county would receive no credit for power generated on weekends when office buildings are closed.
Additional hurdles included price increases for modules and inverters that comply with “foreign entity of concern” regulations, and staff concerns that the county could not meet the strict deadlines required to secure a 30% investment tax credit.
During public comment, environmental advocates expressed deep frustration over the years of delays that led to the current financial impasse.
“It’s very frustrating that we have not seen the county in the last five years be able to move forward on a project,” said Peter McNamee. “We don’t dispute the numbers that are being presented here today, but we think there also what’s not being presented here are the lost opportunities that delay has cost the county.”
McNamee encouraged the board to continue seeking a path forward, noting that solar is no longer a “bleeding edge technology” but an industry standard.
While the Ameresco contract is effectively “dead,” the board voted to appoint a new ad hoc committee to analyze alternative locations outside of Ukiah city limits, such as Fort Bragg or Willits, where the county would face higher PG&E rates and benefit from net metering.
The new committee will also work with Sonoma Clean Power to evaluate the financial feasibility of solar installations on other county-owned parcels.
Read more stories from the May 5 Board of Supervisors:
Mendocino County Sheriff Warns of Staffing Shortages, Safety Risks
Proposed Ukiah Annexation Could Cost Mendocino County as Much as $27 Million Over 16 Years