Toledo Proceeding With Process To Jointly Construct Solar Array With Multiple Communities

The Kapszukiewicz administration is pursuing electricity cost reductions for residents over the long-term, while reducing carbon emissions, through a plan to jointly buy a portion of the city's electricity from a solar array with multiple communities statewide.

Toledo City Council Wednesday approved legislation authorizing Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz to execute a letter of intent with Palmer Energy Company, Inc. to issue a request for proposal to solicit a vendor for the project.

“This is the kind of green energy step all cities should be taking,” Mayor Kapszukiewicz said. “This is the first step in a transitional process and Toledo plans to include our facilities and governmental aggregation participants in the request for proposal process for this utility-scale solar array. Solar energy is more efficient each year and this is a technology we need to fully embrace.”

With council’s approval, the administration plans to sign a letter of intent and combine our electric load with dozens of municipalities and counties – allowing Toledo to secure the lowest possible pricing. Ultimately, Toledo would sign a power purchase agreement that would supply about 25 percent of the city’s anticipated requirements for its facilities and governmental aggregation participants over a 20-year period at a fixed price per kilowatt-hour. The remaining 75 percent would be sourced from the power grid, just as it is currently, and combined with the planned solar array’s production.

Palmer Energy has worked with the City of Toledo for many years on energy purchases and has assembled the public entities to issue the request for proposals. Fifty-nine other communities have already signed the letter of intent. The location of the solar array, which could require about 2,000 acres somewhere in the State of Ohio, has not been determined. There is no upfront investment required for the city of Toledo.