Woodstock North must scale back solar farm in another project setback

Woodstock School District 200 is scaling back its solar farm at Woodstock North High School.

The downsizing comes after ComEd reviewed the district’s solar farm plans and said it was too large for the Woodstock North grid.

According to district documents, the early phases of the solar farm project require sending ComEd engineering documents so the power company can confirm the project’s size. That process can take 60 to 90 days.

About a year ago, District 200 approved a solar farm for the Woodstock North campus. The district then canceled that canceled that contract in January after the contractor came back with a large price increase.

District officials at the time said they planned to go back out for bids and in April, the school district approved a second contract for the solar farm.

District 200 spokesperson Kevin Lyons confirmed Monday the solar farm has to be “smaller in scope according to ComEd’s review.”

The contractor, Althoff Industries, has been working with the district’s architects and engineers to make a smaller system, according to district documents.

The previous cost of the project was $4.5 million. With the farm being scaled back, the cost is estimated to be slightly less, about $2.467 million.

With the smaller price and state and federal tax credits for the project, district officials anticipate it will be break-even before energy savings are factored in. The tax credits are estimated to be about $238,000 from a ComEd rebate, about $1.5 million from the Illinois Shines program and about $740,000 in federal tax credits. The total comes out to $2.475 million.

District documents indicate the smaller farm won’t be able to cover all of Woodstock North’s energy needs, but will still save the district significant energy costs. The estimated energy savings to the district is $1.9 million over 20 years, according to district records.

The previous farm would have created more energy than the campus would have used, with an estimated $2.7 million of savings over 20 years. The scaling-back means the district won’t be able to give excess energy to ComEd.

The school board is expected to vote on a change order to approve the lower price Tuesday evening. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Woodstock High School. Next year’s property tax levy is also scheduled for a vote.