On Friday, Penn State and Lightsource BP broke ground on the Commonwealth’s largest solar purchase. “The 70-megawatt project further supports Penn State’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2020 and to diversify the University’s energy portfolio through the incorporation of solar power, aligning with the Penn State Strategic Plan, which cites stewardship of the planet’s resources as a key priority.” I was fortunate enough to be on the team that got us over the finish line.
IMAGE: Ryan Smith Productions Picture Courtesy of Penn State News.
A friend just asked, “WHY DO THINGS THIS IMPORTANT TAKE SO DAMN LONG?” That’s a great question.
NOTE: I am in no way speaking for Penn State when I write this. This is my well-informed and involved view of the matter that is based on my personal and professional experience.
About 15 years ago, the Office of Physical Plant (OPP) set its greenhouse gas emissions goals. They knew that they had to act on climate change and draw down emissions. Their first two goals were a 17.5% reduction by 2012 and 35% by 2020. But how? The first step was largely accomplished with purchasing renewable energy credits, aggressive retrofitting of buildings and upgrading steam plants for higher efficiency. [See GHG Emissions graph below.]
To reach the 2020 goals, Penn State couldn’t rely on efficiency alone, and there was internal and external pressure to meet that 2020 goal. We entered into a power purchase agreement for small-scale hydroelectric power, converted the onsite power plant from coal to gas, and have continued the energy program. Under some pressure, the University included acting on climate change in its 2016-2020 Strategic Plan and Pres. Barron signed the We Are Still In pledge, meaning Penn State would do its part to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. I was involved in both of those through activism and my position at Penn State. But
Meanwhile, we pay an absurdly low cost for electricity in central PA, among the cheapest in the nation. The Board of Trustees has made controlling tuition a top priority and some of that price squeeze comes onto Physical Plant. So any decision OPP make is scrutinized and price is always on the table. But our folks were watching the cost of solar come down and down and down. They’d already agreed to a small 2 MW array on Orchard Road that was more expensive than the grid but created good educational opportunities and is a signal of what’s to come.
Then two years ago, Penn State received an unsolicited bid for a big solar project in North Carolina that would take it past the 35% reduction. Was it too good to be true? OPP put out a Request for Information and learned that there were projects that met our minimum of 60MWh of electricity a year or about 15% of Penn State’s total statewide purchased electricity. I was put on that team with folks from the Sustainability Institute, Risk Management, Legal, Energy and Mineral Engineering, the Applied Research Lab, OPP, two students, and an Energy Consultant. It was an amazing team who taught me about how much strength can come with a diversity of skills, expertise, viewpoints, and concerns. It has been an unbelievable honor.
We put out a Request for Proposals, vetted them with criteria that required the developer to agree to a number of things including research and teaching access, their interaction with the local community, protection of soils, wetlands, and habitat, and so forth. Thanks to a friend and colleague of mine, we were able to work with the Nature Conservancy to protect connected and resilient habitat corridors for wildlife under changing climate conditions. We interviewed firms and ultimately selected Lightsource BP (who are about as excited about it as I am) because of their willingness to create what I called “a ripple effect of benefits.” From the time of the unsolicited bid to the groundbreaking, it has been just over two years.
The project is estimated to save Penn State at least $14 million over the contract term through solar’s low cost of electricity and will lower Penn State’s greenhouse gas emissions by 57,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, the equivalent of taking 12,100 fuel-burning cars off the road. It also will help to develop the Pennsylvania solar market, strengthen rural communities, employ over 250 people during the construction period, and provide farmers with an additional source of income, all aligning with Penn State’s institutional value of “community.”
The 70-megawatt project further supports Penn State’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by 2020 and to diversify the University’s energy portfolio through the incorporation of solar power, aligning with the Penn State Strategic Plan, which cites stewardship of the planet’s resources as a key priority.
What am I getting at? The University set a goal about 15 years ago, worked toward it, and will actually exceed it on time. Much of the work until this big splash has been kind of invisible but has accomplished more greenhouse gas reductions than this big solar project will. And now, as the solar market is maturing in PA, Penn State is the leading procurer, truly living into its land grant mission. We are going to be followed soon by the City of Philadelphia. Being the first big one took a lot of time, focus, passion, organization, and commitment that resulted in a project that we believe should be replicated and improved upon in years to come.
As my friend and colleague Jeffrey Brownson said, “We want to show communities, faculty, staff and students that this project is the beginning of a lifetime discussion. We want to show people what the future looks like, because they are all a part of it.”
We are…powered by the sun!
Peter Walks for Democracy 