EVWIND
Constellation today announced the development of an aggregate 4.35-megawatt (DC) solar generation project for the Casa Grande Union High School District in Casa Grande, Ariz. Constellation will finance as well as own and operate the solar power systems.
In return, the school district will purchase and receive all of the electricity generated by the solar panels at a fixed rate from Constellation under a 20-year solar services agreement.
“The new solar power systems will help the district to maintain stable electricity costs and serve as an educational resource for our students to learn about renewable energy,” said Shannon Goodsell, superintendent of Casa Grande Union High School District.
The solar power systems will be located at four sites: Vista Grande High School, Casa Grande High School, the Casa Verde High School campus and the school district’s transportation center. Collectively the solar panels will generate an estimated 75 percent of the school district’s electricity needs. The systems are scheduled for completion by December 2012.
“Hosting on-site solar generation is an attractive option for customers to achieve environmental goals and control energy costs without significant upfront capital investment,” said Michael D. Smith, vice president of solar and energy efficiency sales for Constellation. “Constellation congratulates Casa Grande Union High School District for its commitment to renewable energy and is proud to bring another solar project online for Arizona schools.”
In January 2012, Constellation announced the completion of a 4.29-megawatt solar generation project for Buckeye Union High School District.
Constellation’s Casa Grande solar project was initially developed by Kennedy Partners and REgeneration Finance and will be built by CORE Construction. The project is also facilitated, in part, by the Arizona Corporation Commission-approved APS Renewable Energy Incentive Program. The program offers financial incentives, covering up to 40 percent of the installation costs, to customers who add renewable energy systems to their homes or businesses.
The solar power systems are comprised of approximately 18,232 photovoltaic panels, located on 43 carport structures. The project is expected to generate approximately 7 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. Generating the same amount of electricity using nonrenewable sources would result in the release of 3,848 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the equivalent emissions from 754 passenger vehicles annually, according to U.S. EPA data for the Arizona region.
Constellation currently owns and operates more than 100 megawatts of solar installations that have been completed or are under construction for commercial and government customers throughout the United States. By structuring its solar projects as power purchase agreements or solar services agreements, Constellation offers solar installations that may require no upfront capital from customers and may provide fixed power costs that are less than projected market rates.
Constellation’s commercial customers, universities, school systems, hospitals and government agencies interested in on-site solar installations of 1 megawatt or larger may contact Constellation at sustainable-solutions@constellation.com or 1-877-427-2005.
Constellation (www.constellation.com), a business unit of Exelon Corp., is a leading competitive retail supplier of power, natural gas and energy products and services for homes and businesses across the continental United States. Constellation’s retail business serves more than 100,000 business and public sector customers, including more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100, and nearly one million residential customers.
Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) is the nation’s leading competitive energy provider, with approximately $33 billion in annual revenues. Headquartered in Chicago, Exelon has operations and business activities in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Exelon is the largest competitive U.S. power generator, with approximately 35,000 megawatts of owned capacity comprising one of the nation’s cleanest and lowest-cost power generation fleets.
The company’s Constellation business unit provides energy products and services to approximately 100,000 business and public sector customers and approximately 1 million residential customers. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 6.6 million customers in central Maryland (BGE), northern Illinois (ComEd) and southeastern Pennsylvania (PECO).
