Loyalsock Townships Receives Grant for Solar Energy Project

A check for $40,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission was presented to the Loyalsock Township (Lycoming County) Supervisors last night. The funds are for the Township’s $115,000 solar energy project. Participating in the check presentation are (l.to.r) Bill Burdett, Township Manager; Township Supervisors John Bower, Marc Sortman, Richard Wheeland, and Virginia Eaton; Stacy Richards, SEDA-COG; and Jeff Rauff, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

Loyalsock Township (Lycoming County) has been awarded a federal grant for its rooftop solar energy project.  The Township Supervisors received $40,000 from the federal Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) at last night’s (November 8) meeting.  The check was presented by Stacy Richards, Director, SEDA-COG Energy Resource Center (ERC).   

The Supervisors are installing a 15 kW photovoltaic system on the south-facing roof of the Township building at 2501 East Third St., just outside of Williamsport.  Completion of the $115,000 project is expected within a few weeks.  According to Ms. Richards, “Because of the energy efficiency achieved at the Township’s municipal building, the addition of this solar array has the potential to cut the municipal building’s electricity costs to zero.”

“The potential to reduce our building’s net electricity usage to zero was realized through a utility bill analysis provided by SEDA-COG’s Energy Resource Center in 2009,” said Bill Burdett, Loyalsock Township Manager, “Their analysis easily showed how our municipality was using energy across our 30 electricity and heating fuel accounts, and how much we were spending. It provided the guidance and direction we needed to drive down our energy cost, first by reducing the amount of energy our building uses and, secondly, using electricity created on-site by the sun for most, if not all, of the remainder. We are grateful for ARC’s grant, which reduces our investment’s payback period by several years.”

Last April, at SEDA-COG’s recommendation, the Township invested $9,800 on energy efficient lighting in its building, while Larson Design Group, Williamsport, completed design of the solar energy project, consisting of 64 solar panels.  K.C. Larson, Inc., a Williamsport-based energy contractor, began installation of the solar array system in August.

“Because the Township owns the solar system,” said Ms. Richards, “it will be able to sell solar renewable energy credits (SREC), which are currently worth approximately $30,000 in the Maryland SREC market.  This will further reduce the Township’s capital costs”   

“The $85,000 invested by the Township in these two projects,” said Ms. Richards, “is projected to save the Township almost $250,000.” The estimate is based on a projected 30-year life of the solar array and an annual average increase of 3.5% for electricity.  As an added bonus, the Township was able to utilize local expertise to design and install the projects.”