St. Joseph Looks to Have Solar Garden Installed In Town

ST. JOSEPH - St. Joseph is expected to approve a final service agreement on Monday night to subscribe for a community solar garden.

The city is being asked by SunShare to provide energy on a subscription basis. They would build the solar gardens and parter with Xcel Energy.

SunShare is offering St. Joseph to become a 525 kilowatt subscriber for 25 years with an estimated energy savings for the city between $782,150-$829,000.

The savings will come in the form of energy credits paid by Xcel and locking in electricity rates over the 25 years. The small risk to the city would be if Xcel reduces their rates. However, this hasn't happened in recent history and the city isn't expecting it to happen in the future.

Subscribing now may generate $10,000 in energy savings for the 2016 city budget. The city council will further discuss the item during their meeting on Monday night.