Chester Schools Begin Solar Panel Install

Back to school time is a time of year when bright ideas take flight in and outside of the classroom. One of those, literally, is the installation of solar panels on the grounds of the Chester Consolidated School District.

The roof arrays being installed on the roof of the Dickerson gym and the Kindergarten wing of Dickerson as well as the field behind Black River Middle School and back by the school bus parking area behind Dickerson are supposed to save the district nearly a million dollars over the course of 15 years.

Currently, the Chester Schools pay $.0113 per KHW, but the energy generated from the solar arrays would cost $.0667 KHW.

According to the numbers in the , the projected annual savings would be around $63,000 a year.

The project was not without its detractors.  A took issue with the project scale, scope and a perceived lack of checks and balances in the process. Many of Curley's questions were by the school which based its plan off of the Morris Model.

The Morris Model is financed by the MCIA, with bonds guaranteed by the county, allowing partners to reduce a portion of their energy bills without incurring any out-of-pocket costs.

That really was what made the project so attractive, according to Chester Business Administrator MaryJane Canose.

"We had the option of getting this project done without putting out any money," Canose said.