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Memorandum <br />TO: Mayor and City Council <br /> City Manager <br />FROM: Amir Nadav, Solar Consultant <br />DATE: May 24, 2016 <br />RE: Community Solar Garden Subscription <br />Recommendation: <br />Authorize resolution to approve community solar garden subscription agreements with United States <br />Solar Corporation and SolarStone Community LLC. <br />Summary: <br />Community solar gardens represent a way for the city of St. Anthony Village to participate in the <br />development of solar energy technology in Minnesota without the direct responsibility of owning and <br />maintaining an on-site solar array. Under this arrangement, the city would “subscribe” to a portion of the <br />energy produced by a solar array that is owned and maintained by a third party. The city would receive <br />credit on its electricity bill from Xcel Energy for the production of solar energy and in turn make <br />subscription payments to the community solar garden developer. The city would not make an upfront <br />payment to fund the construction of a community solar garden. <br />The city received proposals from three developers that participated in the “Community Solar Subscriber <br />Collaborative” coordinated by the Metropolitan Council. Following direction from City Council on its <br />May 2 workshop and discussions with the community solar garden developers, staff recommends <br />proceeding with subscriptions for a total of 647,940 kilowatt-hours (kWh) representing 352 kilowatts <br />(kW) of solar garden capacity. These subscriptions amount to approximately one-quarter of the annual <br />electricity use from city government facilities. <br />Due to state law and the location of the proposed community solar gardens, only facilities in Hennepin <br />County could be considered for these subscription agreements. Facilities were matched with developers in <br />order to maximize potential cost savings to the city. The size of the subscriptions is based on the annual <br />average electricity use of the selected facilities. A summary of the proposed subscriptions appears below. <br /> <br />Developer Proposed Facilities Subscribed <br />Total <br />Subscription <br />Size (kWh) <br />SolarStone <br />Community LLC <br />• Silver Point Park Shelter <br />• Silver Point Park <br />• Trillium Park <br />• Central Park <br />63,700 <br />United States Solar <br />Corporation <br />• City Hall <br />• Fire Department <br />584,420 <br /> <br />39