PSD looks into going solar

PRESCOTT – Prescott’s school district is looking at getting off the grid and going solar.

Carrie Kyhl, with Scenic Hill Solar, addressed the Prescott School Board at its November meeting Tuesday night, about options Scenic Hill offers.

She began her presentation by telling the board this company has developed the largest solar headquarters in Arkansas and focuses on governmental and educational entities, along with businesses. The company ranks first in Arkansas and 22 nationally, she said. The company’s Chief Executive Officer is former Lt. Gov. Bill Haltom.

Should the district choose to go solar, she said, Scenic Hills could built the plant quickly. She told the panel Scenic Hills built the solar array for Loreal in 49 days from start to finish and is working with the Clarksville School District, setting up an array for it. The Clarksville plant will produce 6.5 megawatt of electricity and 11 million kilowatt hours per year.

Kyhl said there are options in how things could be done. The simplest, she said, is for the company to construct and own the array and sell electricity to the district at a reduced rate. The district could purchase the solar plant and do its own maintenance and operation, or it could buy the array and let Scenic Hills handle maintenance and operation.

Kyhl said the company would need five acres for the plant, which should provide 100 percent renewable energy for the district. In 2018, she pointed out, the district used 1.5 million kwh and paid around $200,000 for electricity under Prescott Water and Light. The five acre array would produce a million megawatt. The system, she continued, could be mounted on the ground, where it would have to be surrounded by a six-foot security fence topped with barbwire, or mounted on the roofs where possible.

Regardless, nothing can be done at this time because the City of Prescott doesn’t have an ordinance on the books dealing with solar energy and how to pay customers for the electricity they’d produce using solar power.

Larry Jones, Jr., with PW&L, was on hand for the meeting. He said the city’s attorney is looking at different ordinances from other communities and working to simplify them for Prescott’s needs. The problem, he added, is how much the city would be getting back and having to pay. He pointed out the city can’t pay one-to-one for electricity produced by solar energy as it has no transmission fees, while the city has to pay them. The city is examining whether it would be better to pay those using solar energy, but are also on the PWL grid, a portion of their fees back or to give them credit.

Kyhl said Scenic Hills is in the process of building a solar array at Guy-Perkins, which will be online by the first of the year, and Batesville schools are getting started with an array of their own.

Robert Poole, Prescott superintendent, said the district sent out request for proposals (RFPs) and Scenic Hills was the only company to respond. As to a possible location for the array, he said the old playground at McRae Middle School could be used.

Kyhl said the solar industry in Arkansas has exploded the last six months. She added, it doesn’t matter where the array is located as long as it’s within the PW&L coverage area.

Jones chipped in saying the company needs to make sure its equipment is adaptable to what PW&L has or the company will have to foot the bill on any upgrades required.

Overall, Kyhl said, the district would need to sign a 20-year contract with Scenic Hills should it choose to go solar and use the company. She pointed out the district would save $98,000 its first year using solar power and roughly $5 million over the next 30 years. These figures were based on a 12.65 cents per kwh. The perfect scenario for the district, she added, would be for it to purchase the solar plant after six years.

In other business, Michael Williams was welcomed as the board’s newest member. Williams was elected in the recent school election. With the election came the need to reorganize the board. However, it was decided to leave the officers as is, with JoBeth Glass president and Ryan Harvey secretary.

The board was told the current student population for the district is 916, this is down four from October. There are 314 students in Prescott Elementary School, 308 in Prescott Junior High School and 294 in Prescott High School.

Poole told the panel the bond money, $6.3 million, has been put in the bank. The district wasted no time in purchasing security upgrades for the district. Access control panels were purchased from Progressive Technologies for the doors at a cost of $83,470, with cameras, a new server, software and licenses bought from Progressive Technologies for $63,430, and new doors with bulletproof glass and the hardware purchased from AGM Glass for $93,366. The total expenditure was $240,266. He said cameras will be everywhere on campus but in the restrooms and most of the work will be done over the upcoming Christmas holidays.

The board also voted to increase the pay for substitute teachers due to the increase in the minimum wage. Non-certified subs will be paid $75 per day, while certified subs will get $85 per day.

The board ended the meeting by voting to participate in the Arkansas Public School Unemployment Compensation Accounting through the Arkansas School Board Association. Basically this means the district would be represented if someone attempts to get unemployment pay they aren’t qualified to receive.