Solar-powered electricity is receiving a boost in Waukegan with the Yeoman Creek Solar Farm clearing a final hurdle to providing reduced electric bills and the pending installation of solar panels on the roof of the Lake County Courthouse & Administration Building.
Ryan Libby, the director of subscriber acquisition for PowerMarket, which is registering subscribers for the farm, said the addition of Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 as the farm’s anchor tenant makes it possible to start serving customers.
“You have to be 50% subscribed before you can go live,” Libby said. “With 40% from the school district, it’s ready to go live. Subscribers should start seeing credits on their bill in February or March.”
The District 60 Board of Education unanimously approved a Subscription Agreement with PowerMarket to become the anchor tenant for the solar farm on Tuesday at the Education Service Center in Waukegan, potentially saving approximately $195,000 annually.
Embracing its own solar energy effort, the Lake County Board approved a project Dec. 9 to install solar panels on the roof of the building which connects the courthouse to the administration tower in downtown Waukegan, to supply 7.5% of the energy used there.
Lake County Board Chair Sandy Hart said Tuesday that work on the installation of the panels will begin in the first half of next year as part of the county’s commitment to clean, renewable energy and a better environment.
“Our belief in clean energy is a commitment to clean air and the quality of life in Lake County,” Hart said.
As the anchor tenant, the district will receive 40% of the savings generated by the farm. Libby said it will amount to approximately $195,000 annually, but the number can vary depending on whether there is more or less sunshine over a specific period of time.
“It’s the equivalent of 7,764,000 miles driven or 13,113 trees planted and fully grown,” Libby said, referring to the environmental benefit generated by the farm. “It’s 3.5 million pounds of coal not being burned.”
LeBaron Moten, District 60’s deputy superintendent for operational supports and programs, said there is no specific designation for the use of the money saved. It may help with the needs of facilities, curriculum materials or a variety of other academic needs. There is a non-dollar value.
“It’s an opportunity for our students to be educated in the importance it has to the environment,” Moten said. “There is an educational component as they learn the value of clean energy over the years.”
Though Libby said all subscribers, including the school district, will start seeing credits on their Commonwealth Edison bill in February or March, so far 306 of 1,000 individual subscriptions are filled. There is room for 694 more Waukegan residents to take advantage of the opportunity. It is designed for low- and moderate-income families or individuals.
If applicants live in a U.S. Census Tract — 68% of Waukegan residents do — where the majority of residents are considered low- to moderate-income, Libby said they merely need to provide a copy of a recent ComEd bill. The other 32% must show they are in the low- or moderate-income category.
To qualify, Libby said an individual must earn less than $67,150 annually, a couple can earn up to $76,750 and a family of four qualifies if total earnings are less than $95,900. Individuals can apply online or by phone. The application process is bilingual, in English and Spanish.
Not only will the solar farm provide economic and environmental benefits to community members, but it will finally bring productive use to land that was once a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) superfund site.
Nick Alatzakis, District 60’s communications director, said in the mid-1950s, the district purchased the 45-acre parcel roughly bounded by Lewis, Sunset, Western and Glen Flora avenues, for a high school.
Moten said soil samples showed the land was unsuited for the building. Alatzakis said it eventually became a landfill, pollutants were dumped and the EPA said it was unusable. Moten said a solar farm became a possibility around 2011.
With the solar farm about to pay dividends to the school district and up to 1,000 households, the county will be starting its solar project to reduce its carbon footprint in Waukegan. Hart said there will be 417 panels on the roof of the building. The cost is just over $758,000. Completion is anticipated late next year.
“This is part of our commitment to have fully sustainable energy in our buildings by 2040,” Hart said.
Lake County Finance and Administrative Committee Chair Paul Frank said the project provides both an economic and environmental benefit. There will be a reduction in energy costs, enabling the project to eventually pay for itself and then create savings.
“It will improve our carbon footprint and energy efficiency,” Frank said.
Lake County also has solar installations at its Libertyville campus, including the Central Permit.
Facility and the Regional Operations and Communications Facility.