STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• $18.3 million project spanning 31 sites
• No cost to Douglas County taxpayers
• Estimated $5.5 Million in cost savings
• One of the largest solar electric projects in CO

Reported by Staff

CASTLE ROCK –  The Douglas County School District is teaming with Premier Power Renewable Energy Inc. and REgeneration Finance, LLC for development of a blanket solar development project for 31 different campus sites and an athletic stadium. When completed, the sites will generate more than 3.0 megawatts of solar electric power.

To facilitate project development, the school district has entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with REgeneration Finance, which will own and finance the project to be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained by Premier Power.

Under the PPA, the school district pays for the power produced by the solar system at a pre-determined rate well below what is charged by their utility, over the life of the agreement, while a third-party owns, operates, and maintains the solar system. The school district receives a stable source of predictable, lower cost electricity while in return the third-party obtains financial benefits such as tax credits and income generated from the sale of electricity to the customer.

“We are extremely proud of our partnership with Premier Power and REgeneration Finance,” said John Carson, president, Douglas County School District Board of Education. “This project will enable us to save thousands of dollars a year in electrical expenses, while also reducing our environmental impact at no capital and operational cost to the school district.”

“We thank the Douglas County School District and its Board of Education for selecting Premier Power to bring clean, environmentally safe and sustainable solar electricity to its schools, its students and the families it serves,” said Dean R. Marks, chief executive officer of Premier Power Renewable Energy. “Premier Power is well experienced for this project, having built large-scale generating facilities in the U.S. and abroad,” commented Premier Power’s chief executive, Dean R.Marks.

“We are pleased to build one of the largest solar electric projects ever in Colorado which will also employ Douglas County workers, pumping dollars back into the local economy.”

Xcel Energy, which serves the Douglas County School District, believes this initiative is one of the five largest solar electric projects ever built in the State of Colorado. Each of the 30 schools will use roof mounted solar panels to produce between 40 kilowatts (kW) and 104 kW of electricity per site, while the athletic stadium will produce 90 kW of electricity from a carport shade structure, believed to be the first of its kind in Colorado.

The project will be built at a cost of $18.3 million at no capital, operational, maintenance, insurance, financing, or ownership expense to Douglas County School District taxpayers, with a projected completion date of next spring. Estimates are that the project will save the District $5.5 million over a 25 year period.

Construction financing on the project is being provided by Seminole Financial Services, LLC of Belleair Bluffs, Florida.