A contributed Perspectives piece by Tony Smith, CEO of Secure Futures. The company is partnering with the city school board on a project to install 4MW of solar generation capacity on school grounds.
In your article “Power is money: HEC, City leaders to consider financial effects of City schools’ solar project,” published on January 24, writer Ryan Alessi quotes Harrisonburg School Board Chair Deb Fitzgerald that installing solar energy systems at the City schools is “a good idea for the schools and…it’s going to be a net benefit to the City.”
The City’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan goal #11 affirms the City’s commitment “To preserve and enhance the City’s natural environment for future generations through education and policies that encourage development that is compatible with nature and builds community resiliency and social responsibility within the community.”
Harrisonburg citizens already know that clean energy helps the city do its part to fight climate change while bringing the Friendly City into the 21st century economy. That’s why Harrisonburg has achieved one of the highest concentrations of solar power installed on homes of any community in Virginia.
Ever since Secure Futures installed our first solar energy system in Harrisonburg at Eastern Mennonite University in 2010, we’ve been a good partner for both the City and HEC. We’ve helped come up with win-win solutions that help make solar power more affordable for local citizens while supporting HEC’s efforts to keep rates down.
As a Certified B Corp, Secure Futures is committed to offering environmental and social benefits to the communities we serve. That’s why we’ve gone to special lengths to design the school solar project in partnership with HEC management. And, as an innovative technology company, we’re exploring solutions using electricity storage that could help the city’s utility manage its load in the future so as to save ratepayers even more.
We plan to continue to work in partnership with HEC and the City to support our mutual sustainability goals.
Dr. Tony Smith
CEO, Secure Futures
