The good news?

The city is still going to be saving millions of dollars over the life of the solar project that they approved in 2012.

The bad news?

They’re just not going to be saving as much.

According to a public hearing Monday night, legal requirements have prevented the installation of roof top or aerial mounts – taking Lathrop City Hall and the Lathrop Community Center off of the list of proposed sites.

But that doesn’t mean that the deal with Borrego Solar, which was initiated by the energy-consulting firm Terra Verde, is off.

The city still plans on installing ground mounts at the corporation yard and a storm drain on Harlan Road, and according to the current plan installation will be completed by December and energy production will begin by the end of the year.

That’s when the saving begins.

While energy costs through Pacific Gas & Electric Company have risen consistently over the last two decades, Lathrop will now have a source of power at a steady, constant rate – paying only $.14 per kilowatt-hour for electricity produced by the panels.

The city was initially slated to save nearly $80,000 the first year the panels operated, but that number has been reduced to $63,533. The $1.08 million that was to be saved at the 10-year mark has been amended to $864,048, and the $4.45 million that the entire project was expected save – over a 25-year span – will now only save Lathrop $3.54 million.

The price escalator of 2.95 percent remains the same according to the contract, and the buy-out cost – which becomes a possibility after the sixth year of the contract – will drop from $3.02 million to $2.88 million. If the city completes the 25-year contract with Borrego Solar, they will own the panels and the infrastructure outright.

The new contract, however, also reduces the amended power price by one cent per kilowatt-hour.

With the action of the City Council, an estoppel agreement will be enacted with Sun Edison LLC, and an amendment to the site agreement and the power purchase agreement with Lathrop Solar 1, LLC were approved.

In other solar-generating related action, the council approved an ordinance that will align with a new state law that will allow for local jurisdictions to use a streamlined process to approve small – 10 kilowatt-hours or less for photovoltaic or 30 kilowatt-hours for thermal – solar generating systems.

The solar ordinance will introduce a new section to the Lathrop Municipal Code to make the process easier to evaluate and approve proposed systems.



To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.