Why buy solar when you can get it for free?
To make more money, according to Brick’s township council and board of education.
Voters will decide next Tuesday whether to approve millions of dollars in financing for a renewable energy system at Brick Memorial High School.
If the township and school district acquire the 525-kilowatt solar panel system through a power purchase agreement (a partnership with a private company), they would apparently get it for free. If they buy the solar panels outright, they have to pay $4.75 million, minus the $1.25 million the state has pledged to contribute through the Clean Energy Program.
The mayor’s Advisory Committee for Renewable Energy recommended Brick buy the panels outright, according to the Asbury Park Press. District Business Administrator James Edwards said the school could save about $1.2 million, compared to $520,000 over 20 years, by buying the panels without the help of a private company.
The question now rests with the taxpayers.
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