Katonah-Lewisboro: Contract will mean solar panels for district

By JEFF MORRIS 

Terence Guiry, a senior business consultant with Honeywell Energy Services Group, presented a detailed look at plans for solar panel installations at the Sept. 18 Board of Education meeting. The Honeywell Energy Performance Contract will result in solar panels being installed at all district buildings.

The program overview presented by Guiry showed a total, fixed price of $7.15 million. Guidry said after the district solicited bids last fall, Honeywell had been selected by the district in January and did a lot of detailed engineering work, with the criteria being they had to develop a self-funded solar system.

According to Guiry, by using Federal Investment Tax Credits, NYSERDA money and energy savings, they came up with a proposal that is self-funding, especially in light of newly-lowered interest rates. He cautioned that there will be a funding gap in year one, because New York payments for this type of project have to begin within 12 months, there is an 18-month construction schedule, and federal ITC money doesn’t come in until the work is complete, but that Honeywell is helping close that gap.

Guiry showed annual energy savings of $318,434, and annual New York state building aid of $122,041. He said each year, the guaranteed savings, building aid, and rebates/grants exceed the district’s financing payments, thus generating a positive cash flow of $565,771.

In April, at a board meeting focused on the district’s sustainability efforts, Lavoie said the district was exploring an energy performance contract that is specifically designed to equip every school roof with photovoltaic solar panels. 

“This is a very ambitious initiative,” he said, “aimed to build a system with a capacity upwards of around 2,300 kilowatts, which annually could generate 2.3 to 3 million kWh.” 

He said this would promise substantial energy cost reductions throughout the district. “To put that in perspective, our average was about 4.3 million kWh, so you’re looking at a potential infusion of about 50% or so of sustainable electricity.”

Some years ago, the district’s Sustainability Committee had looked into installing solar panels at the high school, but ultimately abandoned the idea. At that time, they were considering having the panels installed and owned by a third party, but that led to a lot of complicated legal issues and questions that were considered insurmountable. Coincidentally, the district was engaged with Honeywell for an earlier energy performance contract at around that time, but that contract involved improving building and systems efficiency and did not have a solar energy component. Both solar technology and Honeywell’s offerings have advanced considerably since that time.

The Honeywell proposal should provide 511.9 kW at John Jay High School; 443.4 kW at John Jay Middle School; 369.7 kW at Increase Miller Elementary; 76.6 kW at Katonah Elementary; 379.1 kW at the former Lewisboro Elementary; and 333.5 kW at Meadow Pond Elementary.

All of the solar panels will be roof-mounted with the exception of Lewisboro, where they will be ground-mounted on the former soccer field. The installation at KES is smaller than the others due to panels being incompatible with the sloped slate roof, but Guiry said they were installing them wherever possible so as not to leave any building out. KES is also currently having a geothermal system installed, but Lavoie said that does not tie in with the solar proposal.

The next step, Guiry said, is for the board to approve and execute the energy performance contract, which he expected would happen Oct. 9. That contract must be submitted to the state education department for approval and the district must pass a financing resolution, all of which Guiry anticipated happening during November and December, allowing Honeywell to begin construction Dec. 19, with completion expected in June 2027.

Trustee Barbara Williams noted that rising electricity demand from data centers and AI was expected to drive up the price of electricity, so “from the perspective of the fiscal responsibility we have, having this in place and being able to generate 50 to 60% of our electricity needs on site I think is a huge advantage to us.”

Guiry agreed, saying their anticipated cost increase of 2% a year is conservative. “Think about if you didn’t do it where those costs would be,” he said. He pointed to NYSERDA money of 25 cents a watt paid to contractors that is dwindling, and the federal monies going away. 

Superintendent Ray Blanch called attention to not only the financial impact, but the environmental impact, with the amount of carbon dioxide saved per year — 2,258.40 metric tons — being the equivalent of 5 million pounds of CO2 the community will prevent from being generated each year.