The Greene County School District is looking into a different way to save energy costs.

Superintendent Brett Abbotts says last calendar year, the district was paying nearly $440,000 for electricity, which has seen a steady 10-15 percent annual increase every year. He, along with the school board, have been investigating ways to be more energy efficient, significantly reduce expenses, and be good stewards of taxpayer money. 

Abbotts explains that the district has consulted with OPN Architects, Chris Deal with Modus Engineering and Optimized Systems to find the causes for the higher consumption rates. There have been a number of corrections that were implemented in the past 6-8 months, but Abbotts and the board feel the district is still spending too much money.

At their February meeting, the school board discussed solar energy as a possible solution. Following an analysis from two Iowa-based solar companies, they found that the district would benefit from using solar by cutting energy costs $237,000 districtwide. At their March meeting, Abbotts says a financial advisor from Piper Sandler told the board they could borrow the funds for the $4.5 million solar project through Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) while also paying for other necessary items and capital projects that come up. 

Abbotts says at their meeting in March, the school board met with a financial advisor from Piper Sandler to learn about borrowing funds through the Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) to pay for the estimated $4.5 million solar installation. He talks about the two points he wanted to accomplish during that part of the meeting.

“Kind of a good move with ‘Dylan’s Rule’ which is an Iowa School Finance Rule, we’re leveraging our PPEL and sales tax funds to be able to offset major expenditures, which comes from our electrical and natural gas, and we’re offsetting that out of the general fund.”      

An informational public meeting will be held on April 3rd at 6pm in the middle school auditorium. More detailed plans for the project, the financial aspect, a possible timeline and benefits for the district will be covered at the meeting.