Solar Power Now Generates 60% of Power For Montgomery County Correctional Facility

A Montgomery County press release (2017-07-05) announced that County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett joined other State and County officials in christening the largest solar project to date in the County. The project is expected to provide more than 60% of the electricity needs for the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. From the press release:

“Montgomery County is making significant strides toward energy independence by generating clean, local, renewable energy on County facilities,” said Leggett. “Thanks to a public-private partnership, we are able add solar to our public facilities at no upfront cost to the County. With these solar projects, we expect to save $15 million in electric bills during the next 20 years while achieving significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”

Officials joining Leggett at the energy independence celebration included Maryland State Delegates Shane Robinson, Charles Barkley, and David Fraser Hidalgo; County Council President Roger Berliner; County Councilmember Marc Elrich; Department of General Services Director David Dise; Department of Correction and Rehabilitation Director Robert Green; and Up-County Regional Services Director Catherine Matthews.

“With this project, Montgomery County continues to demonstrate leadership in renewable energy,” said Berliner. “We’re showing the promise of solar power in our community and saving taxpayers money while doing it.”

The solar project at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility includes two ground-mount and one rooftop array and is expected to produce 3.5 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year, enough to provide more than 60 percent of the electricity used by the facility. This project is part of a larger initiative to install solar on other County properties, moving the County significantly closer to independence from both the power grid and the rising cost of electricity.

The press release also noted that by the end of 2018, County solar projects will produce enough energy to power more than 1,000 single-family homes and that the County is also working to implement microgrid projects at the Correctional Facility and Public Safety Headquarters.

 

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Source: Montgomery County