Lincoln officials present $10.7 million municipal solar and efficiency plan, say it could save $26 million over 30 years

City staff and consultant SiteLogic presented a municipal energy‑efficiency program to the Lincoln City Council on March 12, describing site plans for solar carports at City Hall, the community center, the police parking area, arrays over the pickleball courts and a ground‑mounted aggregation array to offset multiple city meters.

Jessica Ritter of SiteLogic said the current program estimate is "$10,700,000" and that the company projects a "30 year net savings to the city of $26,000,000." She described carport structures as a preferred approach for the city because older roofs provide limited panel area and rooftop installations increase roofing replacement complications. Ritter also said SiteLogic offers a 90% performance guarantee and a monitoring dashboard to track production and uptime.

City staff framed the timing as a response to rising PG&E rates and recent changes in net‑metering rules. Staff said the city submitted applications to qualify for a prior net‑metering aggregation program so the city remains eligible for the program’s benefits for a limited transition period (staff stated the city is eligible for nine years under the earlier program). The presentation also described a ResBECT (Resbeck) ground‑mount system intended to offset meters where on‑site interconnection is infeasible.

Council members asked about sizing choices, the feasibility of adding battery backup for resiliency, and whether installing arrays at the existing police parking lot made sense given plans to relocate the department. Staff said batteries were discussed but were not cost‑effective at present and that the project team considered ownership and financing options (city purchase, bank financing or a power‑purchase agreement) to be decided later. On timing, staff said the item will return with more detailed financial metrics at the April council meeting and that a related public hearing was continued to April 9.

The council did not take a final financing vote on March 12; staff and SiteLogic said additional analysis — including project finance options and department budgeting — will be presented to council in April before any binding commitment.

Next steps: the project team will return to council with detailed financial metrics and proposed procurement/ownership options at a future meeting (public hearing continued to April 9 per staff).