Board declines to advance five‑site solar lease‑to‑own plan after costs rise

The Tunkhannock Area School Board did not advance a proposed lease‑to‑own solar project for five district sites after the buildings & grounds committee recommended stopping the project given significantly changed cost assumptions.

District staff and committee members summarized the changes: interconnection costs initially estimated near $300,000 rose to as much as $1.5 million, the financing structure shifted from purchasing the system to a power‑service agreement, and the federal tax credit that would have offset roughly half of the project benefit was no longer available under the revised plan. Those shifts cut the project’s projected financial advantage substantially; staff said projected savings fell to roughly $150,000 versus previously larger estimates under a purchase model.

Because there was no motion and no second, the item failed to advance and the board took no action on the solar agreement. Board members noted the possibility of revisiting solar in the future as technology and incentives change.

District staff who worked on the analysis answered board questions about what changed in the cost estimates and warned that interconnection and financing assumptions — not the district’s interest in renewable energy — were the primary reasons for pausing the project.