March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 47 F

County To Save $100K On Annual Electricity Bill

County Executive John R. Leopold announced that an award to purchase electric power generated from a large solar array installed on a County warehouse roof will save more than $100,000 per year.

“Environmental protection and fiscal discipline are not mutually exclusive goals,” County Executive Leopold said.  “By expanding our use of solar energy, we are reducing our reliance on coal-fired energy
and also saving money on our electricity bills.  This solar array will save taxpayer dollars for 20 years.”

The County will contract with Constellation Energy to buy electricity at a fixed rate. All electricity generated by the new Photovoltaic (PV) solar system will be used exclusively on site for warehouse operations in Millersville.

Anne Arundel County’s recently received a $750,000 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration’s Sunburst Program to pursue this system. Constellation will sell the solar- produced electricity to the
County for $0.027/ kWh. The current “brown power rate” is $0.1185. The reduction in brown power is equivalent to removing 750 tons of carbon dioxide from the air annually.

Construction on the solar array at the Millersville Central Services Warehouse will start in December. The system will go into electricity production phase next March. The 750kW solar project will include 3,125 crystalline silicon PV modules (240 Watt DC/Module) and cover approximately 3 ½ acres of rooftop area. The site was selected because it can consume all electricity generated and receives no shade during daylight hours.

Previous Article

Regional Recap, September 20, 2010

Next Article

Regional Recap, September 21, 2010

You might be interested in …