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by Gary Sinderson
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa (WJAC) — At one point it was heralded as a "historic undertaking" — using solar power to lower energy costs for close to a dozen Centre County municipalities and entities.
But now, it has all fallen apart and Centre County commissioners say they will have to look elsewhere in hopes of cutting electricity costs.
The Solar Power Purchase Agreement was envisioned as way for some of the Centre County's largest entities, including county government, State College Borough, State College School District and others, to plug into one solar array and cut energy costs.
“By polling our purchasing power, we would be able, at that point, to take advantage of what were significant federal incentives for renewable energy projects.”
The project had been ongoing for years, despite critics who raised questions about financing and spending policies.
“I’m not willing, and I’ve seen the numbers, pure numbers, I’m not willing to endorse a project that is more expensive and has been marred by this elongated progress.”
Now, the proposed solar agreement is no more, with its downfall blamed on changing federal policies.
“The federal government has changed the tax code and regulation to a degree that the private partner was no longer able to move forward.”
But with electric bills and energy costs rising quickly, the Centre County commissioners said that they are still interested in a similar proposal.
Ironically, several solar field projects are already on the table in Centre County.
“We believe those projects have already been dedicated and the power has already been sold at this point, but we could check with those entities and see if they have a little extra.”
On Monday night, the State College School District became the first of the original entities involved in the solar power purchase agreement to formally approve terminating their involvement.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.

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