Posted: Saturday, August 2, 2014 12:30 am
The Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA has had solar panels running on its new building for the past 10 days, helping to offset utility costs.
Monolith Solar Associates, of Rochester, installed solar panels at no cost at the Humane Society’s new facility, which opened in March and had a grand opening May 31.
“Talks about installing solar panels began nearly a year ago when we were planning the new facility,” said Ron Perez, president of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA. “We did some research to try to find the best deal that could provide the most electricity before we went with Monolith.”
The addition of the solar panels can offset electric utility costs by 25 percent, according to a Monolith press release.
The Humane Society factored a savings of 60 percent on utility costs, Perez said.
“We’ve had them running for 10 days,” he said. “If trends continue as we’ve monitored, it is looking like we can offset utility costs by around 80 percent.”
An 80 percent reduction on electric costs is a “massive savings,” he said.
“Heating, cooling and lighting our facility comes at a high cost and takes a toll on our budget, not to mention the environment,” Perez said. “To minimize the effects of costly energy consumption on both our bottom line and the environment, we made the decision to go solar. Thanks to Monolith, we will see a significant savings in our electricity costs, allowing us to allocate more funding to where it is most needed—directly to providing the highest level of care for our community’s animals.”
Monolith installs free solar panels and when the panels are operational, the customer leases them from Monolith for a monthly fee, said Gwennan Booth, public relations manager for Gramercy Communications, which represents Monolith.
However, nonprofit organizations are eligible for Monolith’s power purchase agreement program, “which allows organizations that have zero tax liability to gain access to solar through our lease option. (The) only bill from Monolith Solar (for nonprofit organizations) is a monthly electric charge for the solar produced at a discounted rate, as compared to your current utility rate,” according to the company’s website, www.monolithsolar.com.
“We commend (the Humane Society) for their forward-thinking decision to go solar,” said Monolith President and CEO Mark Fobare, in a press release. “Large facilities clearly incur higher energy costs and can reap remarkable savings benefits from solar energy in addition to being more environmentally responsible. The system was designed to produce the needs of their anticipated energy usage. They only pay for the power they use and that cost is 20 percent less than what they would have paid to the utility company.”
Stever Erby, vice president of Monolith, added to Fobare’s remarks.
“The Humane society does not pay for the install or maintenance, but they pay us like they would a utility company, but at a very reduced rate,” he said. “About 80 percent of a normal utility bill, which adds up to a lot of savings.”
Perez said he is just happy to be able to allocate more funds to help the animals.
No comments:
Post a Comment