By Mark Ambrogi
The Boone REMC Community Solar project will soon be coming to Whitestown.
There will be a field of solar panels on the grounds to the west of the Whitestown Municipal Complex. The Whitestown Town Council approved the move this spring. The Boone REMC board approved it earlier this month. Boone REMC is an electric utility cooperative serving 10,000 members in Boone, Clinton, Hamilton, Hendricks and Montgomery counties.
“It’s an effort by the town to show we are being very progressive in embracing sustainable uses of energy as well as giving our residents a chance to do so,” Whitestown Town Manager Dax Norton said. “That’s really why the project is happening. The solar panels don’t provide electricity to our building directly, it just goes into the grid.”
The Whitestown Redevelopment Commission invested $75,000 into the project from tax abatement impact fees.
“That essentially will give us a 28 percent share of the project and reduce the cost of electricity here at the building by about 40 percent,” Norton said. “That will allow residents to buy into it to get their credits as well.”
Anybody who is a Boone REMC member can purchase a share of the project.
Norton said the Municipal Complex uses 10,000 kilowatt hours per month.
“I think our bill is around $1,200 per month, so that’s pretty substantial,” Norton said.
Boone REMC is in the process of selecting the vendor.
“They want to get started in mid-October or early November,” Norton said. “They would like to have it done by December.”
Mandy Saucerman, Boone REMC communications and marketing specialist, said the completion will likely be dependent on the weather.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 125 Kilowatts – Projected size of the solar array
- 310 – Projected watts per panel
- 432 – Projected number of panels
- 185,000 kilowatt hours – Projected output in the first year
*Source: Boone REMC
