PHOTO BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
SOLAR PROJECT … John Courtney of Courtney & Associates of Findlay addresses the Bryan Board of Public Affairs regarding the solar array project on Tuesday night.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
Committed to reducing costs and identifying opportunities for reliable, economical, renewable energy for the benefit of Bryan residents and businesses, the Bryan Board of Public Affairs met Tuesday to discuss a new Solar Array Project.
Following the call to order and the Pledge of Allegiance, the roll call followed with board members Annette Schreiner, Bob Eyre, Dick Long, Jim Salsbury, and Karen Ford in attendance.
Also attending were John Lehner (city clerk/treasurer), Derek Schultz (director of utilities), and Al Sullivan (electric distribution superintendent).
Schultz told board members the important benefits of the Solar Array Project. “This will offer stable long-term power supply solutions,” pointed out Schultz.
“Additionally, it can help offset our peak demand, reducing our utility charges and our transmission and capacity savings, which are benefits that directly impact our customers.”
He added that this effort also supports the board’s 25 percent renewable energy goal.
The city has already taken a few early steps to help evaluate the liability of the project. This included working with Courtney & Associates of Findlay, as well as Bryan Municipal Utilities and city staff.
“A lot of the discussions just stemmed around from, ‘is this a project that’s worth pursuing’ and ‘does it make sense,’” said Schultz. “The consensus from that was it does. It does make sense to pursue this.”
Schultz has identified 14.5 acres of unused land just east of the wastewater treatment plant for the project.
With the help of Courtney & Associates, the preliminary assessment helped determine that it could support up to a four-megawatt solar array.
The city also initiated a system impact study through AEP to ensure the project wouldn’t negatively affect the grid or the performance and reliability of the grid.
“The results of the study were positive,” said Schultz. “AEP required no upgrades and essentially gave us the approval for a project like this. Additionally, the study was completed at no cost. It really kind of confirmed that basic project liability; it gave us confidence to continue to pursue this project.”
John Courtney, representing Courtney & Associates, said the average energy cost based on what the solar is producing on the current market is around five cents per kilowatt hour.
“You’re looking at avoiding just right off the top, roughly five cents a kilowatt hour,” pointed out Courtney.
“In addition, you got the ability then to also avoid capacity costs that you pay through PJM. Those capacity costs per kilowatt hour on the solar equate about 2.7 cents per kilowatt hour while avoiding AEP transmission costs.”
With this project, the total credit savings are 9.75 cents per kilowatt hour, and the net cost of solar energy is 1.75 cents per kilowatt hour.
A resolution was made for the authorization of the utilities director and Courtney & Associates to develop and issue a request for proposals for a solar array project in Bryan.
“We would prefer the structure that is under the power purchase agreement, and authorizing this resolution allows staff to move forward with this process,” said Schultz.
“Authorization of this resolution doesn’t commit you to a solar project. This simply is going to allow us to further evaluate the project through a competitive process.”
Board chairman Annette Schreiner questioned the time frame for the project.
“We like to give them RFP (Request for Proposals) process at least three weeks before we send it out,” said Courtney. “So, they got adequate time to come look at the site, due diligence.
“Once we get those back, it’s usually another two or three weeks to review – depends on how many. The last one we did only had three respondents.
“The fewer we get, the quicker we can evaluate them. So, you’re probably looking about two months to be able to come back and again give a recommendation of what we see.”
Following a lengthy discussion, board member Bob Eyre made a motion to pass the resolution, with Dick Long seconding it.
In other action, the board authorized Mayor Carrie Schlade to submit an application to participate in the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) State Capital Improvement Program and Local Transportation Improvement Program to provide financial assistance in the form of grants for capital improvements.
It will provide 50 percent of financial assistance for the East Mulberry Street Waterline Replacement Project, in which the city will be making improvements to the water line.
The board then unanimously approved the financial assistance for the project, as the application deadline is September 12, 2025.
A change in the new electric warehouse was approved by the board based upon a cost revision made by Beilharz Architects, Inc., of Defiance.
The revisions in the project include recommendation for labor, materials, equipment and supervision cost changes for providing drainage system modifications (+$4,700) and building pad construction modifications (+$17,000) to accommodate unforeseen/unstable soil conditions, as well as omitting concrete work planned between the new and existing buildings (-$14,500) for a total net increase of $7,200.
With the cost adjustments, the revised cost for the project totals $1,296,542.
Schultz reported that Noah Landel had recently completed his line worker training, and employee John DeGroff will be retiring soon.