The Centre County government agencies that had worked together for years on plans to buy solar energy are ending the initiative, after the company they were working with wanted to end the current contract in the face of a changing financial landscape.
The Centre County Solar Group, which met Friday to review the termination, has 10 members, including the State College school district, Centre County government and most Centre Region municipalities. The idea was to save money and support sustainable energy through a 15-year solar power agreement. The project was to be completed by this October.
But the company they were working with, Prospect14, pointed to several factors including new tariffs on solar imports and an end to federal solar tax credits.
“For these reasons, the developer sought to exit the contract, prompting both parties to work amicably toward the termination agreement,” said Randy Brown, the finance and operations officer for the State College Area School District and the coordinator of the Centre County Solar Group.
The school district would have been the largest participant, using about half of the energy.
“The district obviously invested immense time and financial resources in this project, and we are disappointed that it had to end this way," Brown said. "We’re not immune from things needing to take a turn, and we will begin having conversations once this agreement is accepted about how we're going to buy our power in the future and what kind of power we will be purchasing."
In a statement distributed at the meeting, Prospect14 said the effects of federal policy changes are not unique to this project and are "leading to delays, renegotiations, or terminations industry-wide."
The project has drawn critics. Ron Servello, the former Centre Region Council of Governments chair and a Halfmoon Township supervisor, said it was known that changing politics would mean changes in energy prices.
“It appears to me that we knew there was a problem but that problem was ignored," he said during the meeting.
The termination agreement will go to the member agencies for approval. That’s expected to happen by the end of March.
