The Town of Black Diamond is purchasing more solar panels to soften the blow of upcoming power bills.
Town council approved the purchase of a 5,100-watt solar system for the Scott Seaman Sports Rink during its June 15 council meeting. The almost $25,000 system will be installed this summer and fall.
“It will cover what (electricity) we are using in the summer and it will help to lower how much electricity we will use in the winter time,” said Les Quinton, the Town’s parks and recreation manager. “It’s the distribution and delivery charges that add up. If we lower our consumption, it has an impact on the distribution costs. We will eliminate a small portion of that.”
The system is expected to generate about 7,500 kilowatt hours of electricity each year, amounting to a savings of about $800 with the Town’s existing contract, said Quinton.
The contract, which charges the Town just under six cents a kilowatt, is due for renewal in 2020.
“With the current rate of electricity it doesn’t mean a lot,” he said. “The cost of electricity is going to go up substantially in the next number of years. This is investing for the future.”
Solar panels on the Oilfields Regional Arena and municipal building generated 28.6 megawatt hours of electricity last year, resulting in $1,718 in savings, said Quinton.
He expects the savings to increase drastically once the contract is renewed.
Although the Scott Seaman Sports Rink is shut down over the summer, Quinton said it still incurs an electrical bill due to transmission and distribution charges.
Quinton said the Town chose to install the solar system this year because it anticipates the cost for solar panels will increase with demand. The implementation of the carbon tax in 2017 calls for increased costs for both electricity and gas.
The Town applied for funding assistance through the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre to help offset the cost, which will be covered through the Town’s green reserve.
The reserve consists of about $30,000, all of which is money the Town saved on its electricity bills due to solar energy generated on the arena and municipal building’s roofs.
If the Town is approved for the grant, it will receive 75 cents per watt of installed solar - equal to $3,825.
Last summer, the Town paid more than $600,000 to install a roof over the Scott Seaman Sports Rink. Money used for the project came from a reserve fund collected through FortisAlberta franchise fees.
