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CARLTON — Carlton County could have the largest county-run solar field in the state if the County Board approves a new contract to secure $2 million in federal funding.
On Tuesday, May 6, representatives from McKinstry, a construction and energy services company overseeing the proposed solar field, urged the Carlton County Board of Commissioners to amend a contract to more than double the solar field’s size to secure pledged federal funds they say will result in $8.4 million in savings over 25 years.
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“It’s truly a multi-decade benefit and legacy for the community here in support of that new facility,” Adam Seidel, an account executive at McKinstry, told the board.
The May 6 meeting was a committee of the whole meeting, and the County Board was not allowed to take action to finalize the contact at that meeting. The board voted to review the amended contract at its May 12 meeting.
The board  previously approved a scaled-back version to construct a 601-kilowatt field outside the Carlton County Justice Center. The $3.6 million project, with about $1 million of that covered by federal incentives, would save the county $4.7 million over 25 years and offset electricity at the Justice Center by 39%, according to McKinstry.
The expanded proposal would double the size of the solar field to 1,258 kilowatts, and offset electricity by 68% at the Justice Center. The $5.7 million project would receive $2 million in extra federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy in addition to the $1 million in previously approved federal incentives. The updated contract would obligate the county to spend about an additional $141,000.
“You’re offsetting more of your own power; you make more money,” Seidel said.
The county must submit the amended contract to the U.S. Department of Energy by May 15 to lock in the price of roughly $1 million in building materials that are otherwise subject to market volatility, according to County Administrator Dennis Genereau.
“After the 15th of May, then we don’t have that, that same price guarantee, because right now this market is pretty volatile,” Genereau said.
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All the equipment for constructing the solar field is American-made, as required by the Department of Energy Contract, according to Seidel.
Seidel thanked Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Pete Stauber for their help in securing the funds.
“Both Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Stauber’s office were instrumental in helping us get through that and get those funds unsequestered,” he said.
If constructed by its current timeline, Seidel said it will be the largest county-owned solar field in Minnesota.
“There are a couple counties that are hot on your heels, maybe to catch up on that, but it would be at least for a little while the largest county-owned system in the state of Minnesota,” Seidel said.
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