This story was originally written for the Powering a Brighter Future in Pennsylvania; a 2022 report on solar at Pennsylvania K-12 schools.

—

Midd-West School District, a small district serving 2,100 students at four schools in the Middleburg Borough in rural, central Pennsylvania, currently holds the title for the first school district to offset more energy than it uses in the state.

Midd-West School District, a small district serving 2,100 students at four schools in the Middleburg Borough in rural, central Pennsylvania, currently holds the title for the first school district to offset more energy than it uses in the state. After experiencing savings from offsetting 95% of the district’s electricity costs with solar, Midd-West decided to add more solar panels to offset 110% of its electricity use with solar and generate additional revenue by selling the excess energy back to the grid.

Midd-West saw the value of energy savings in 2013 when it implemented a comprehensive energy efficiency strategy at West Snyder Elementary School, such as swapping all the lighting to LEDs and switching from coal-powered heating to a geothermal energy system. The success of those cost-saving upgrades prompted the district to consider the potential opportunity to go solar and find more operational savings.

A school board member, who was pursuing a solar energy system at home, helped initiate the process of bringing a solar array to the district to save on operating expenses. Midd-West issued a bid for the district’s solar project in 2019, and the two solar arrays (totaling 2.56 MW) were installed and operational by November 2020. The main array (2.1 MW) at Middleburg Elementary School covers 6 acres behind the main school complex and athletic fields. The 1.25 acre array (460 kW) installed at West Snyder Elementary brought the district closer to its goal of having a zero energy building. When the district expanded its solar installations with a 437 kW array installed on Midd-West High School’s roof to offset 110% of its electricity consumption with onsite clean energy, the elementary school’s only remaining fossil fuel sources are the propane it uses to fuel kitchen appliances and backup generators.

Midd-West was able to go solar with no upfront capital investment by utilizing a 28-year power service agreement (PSA) designed for the project by GreenWorks Development. In this third-party ownership arrangement, the customer makes monthly contract service payments for the use of the solar system.  The district pays an average estimated solar-generated electricity cost of $0.039 per kilowatt-hour over the project term, and it receives 100% of the electricity cost savings and the value of the Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs) generated by the system.

The district’s solar project provides predictable low-cost energy that reduces operational costs now and protects against rising electricity costs in the future. The energy savings enables the district to stretch its budget further and invest more into critical resources and services for students. Midd-West was saving $145,000 on its annual electric bill, which increased to over $230,000 since expanding its solar capacity. The annual savings will increase as the utility rates rise. After the fifth year of operation, the district will have the option to purchase the system using 100% financing, which is expected to further increase the cash flow to the district.

At a rate of $0.105 kWh, the current 2.56 MW solar installation is estimated to save the district more than $17 million over the 40-year life expectancy of the solar panels. Midd-West added 437 kW of solar, at no upfront cost to the district, in order to reach 110% electricity offset.