Centre County to Acquire Ownership of Solar Array at Correctional Facility

Centre County will exercise an option to acquire outright ownership of the solar array at the correctional facility in Benner Township, a move officials say will save millions of dollars over the next two decades.

The Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved purchasing the 1.2 megawatt array from Centre County Solar Partners LLC for $567,411.

The contract for the array, which has been powering the correctional facility since January 2020, included options for the county to purchase the system at various points during the 25-year term, with the first being at the five-year mark in 2025.

Purchasing the array now is estimated to save the county $4.1 million through the end of the contract — a figure that factors in the original $1.67 million cost, the purchase of the system and ongoing maintenance. That’s more than double the original estimate of $1.9 million, county Administrator John Franek said.

“Several estimated data points have proved to be on the conservative side,” Franek said.

The correctional facility is the county’s largest energy consumers, and the array was originally expected to provide most, but not all, of its electricity. It has, however, produced more energy than the jail needs, with its bifacial panels generating electricity from direct and reflected sunlight, and the excess is sold back into the grid for renewable energy credits.

The array now generates more than $100,000 annually from the sale of credits while zeroing out its traditional grid costs, which prior to 2020 topped $115,000 per year.

“This facility runs 24/7. This isn’t an office building,” Commissioner Steve Dershem said. “The power generated there and the power requirements of that facility are pretty substantial, so I think it makes complete sense to purchase this and take advantage of the money this system generates.”

Franek added that traditional grid power costs are outpacing projections further adding to the savings from the array.

“Obviously electricity costs going up substantially is not a great thing but it is more than doubling our expected savings,” Board of Commissioners Chair Mark Higgins said.

Dershem called acquiring ownership of the array “a win.” Commissioner Amber Concepcion said it will further advance the benefits the county has reaped.

“As we’re looking at what needs to be a diverse energy future, it was advantageous to finance the construction of this and it’s clearly had a much greater return on investment than we initially thought,” Concepcion said. “Going forward, it just protects us from any volatility in the energy markets that we have our own array that’s going to make a predictable amount of power.”