Money From The Stimulus Package Powers The Purchase Of Solar Panels

Money from the recently passed federal stimulus package is going to help the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs with a brand-new 2 MW solar power plant.

The plant will cost $18.3 million and cover up to 30 acres on the Academy grounds. It is the first part of a long-range plan to shift the school’s power demands to completely renewable resources.

However, the solar plant is going to be owned and operated like Colorado Springs Utilities and the electricity it generates will be shared with customers throughout the city.

The money comes from extra-base maintenance money that was added to the stimulus package. The Academy will transfer the cost of the utility, which will design and build the plant. In return, it gets an agreement that a portion of the base’s electricity comes from completely renewable energy sources, including solar power panels.

Lt. Col. Jace Davey, commander of the academy’s 10th Civil Engineer Squadron, says that the solar panel array will most likely be built along the eastern edge of the Academy near State Route 25 because that is the area of the Academy that gets the most sunlight.

The current plans involve building a facility that will convert enough sunlight with the solar panels to power more than 1400 homes.

The utility company has already been working with the military throughout the region to reduce its power use while generating even more through solar power.

This year the utility started operating a brand-new 12 acre solar panel plant at Fort Carson that generates enough electricity for over 500 homes.

The final arrangements with the Academy have not yet been made, but officials on both sides are optimistic about the process and hope to start generating electricity with solar panels within the next two years.

“It certainly adds to our renewable portfolio,” Romero said.

The solar plan is part of the academy’s effort to cut down its power bills. The school spends nearly $10 million a year on its utilities area.

“If you can cut back 10 percent, that’s $1 million,” said Lt. Col. Michael Greiner, the academy’s director of financial management.

The Academy disclosed that the details of the planned solar plant are going to be worked out in the next few weeks after the Air Force transfers the stimulus package money.

At that point the engineers from school and the utility will start work on building it.