Wash bill would place solar projects at food banks
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Washington lawmakers are considering allowing community-funded solar energy systems to be installed at the state's food banks - a step aimed at promoting renewable energy while reducing operating costs at the overstretched nonprofits.
A bill moving through the state Senate would expand Washington's 6-year-old renewable energy cost incentive program to include food banks and Shoreline Community College near Seattle as possible host sites for community solar projects.
Under the projects, local groups - primarily residents or small businesses - pay to install solar power arrays at public facilities in exchange for an annual rebate of up to $5,000 for the electricity produced by each system. Additional financial incentives are available for systems that use components manufactured in Washington.
The host facilities do not share in the rebates, but they benefit through lower electric bills, supporters say.
The projects are part of a larger statewide push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable electricity generation. In 2006, Washington voters approved an initiative calling for electric utilities that serve more than 25,000 customers to obtain 15 percent of their electricity from new renewable sources by 2020
Currently, community solar projects may be operated at sites owned by local government entities, such as schools, city halls and fire stations. Three projects already have been approved by the state Department of Revenue - two in Kittitas County and one in Okanogan County - and three more are in development at schools in the North Kitsap School District in the northwestern portion of the state.
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