The Charlotte City Council will vote Monday night on whether to lease city land for a solar farm that eventually will help the city meet its climate goals by cutting the use of fossil fuels for electricity.
The 11-acre site is just north of Historic Rural Hill near Charlotte Water's McDowell Creek wastewater treatment plant. A private company called McDowell Creek Solar plans a 1.2-megawatt solar farm in partnership with the local electric cooperative, Energy United, which would help power the wastewater plant's operations.
The farm's generating capacity is equal to all the solar Charlotte has on public buildings now. It would bring the city a step closer to its Strategic Energy Action Plan goal of powering all city buildings from zero-carbon sources by 2030, said Sarah Hazel, the city's chief sustainability and resiliency officer.
"This one project really represents a key opportunity to capitalize on a site that is unique for the city of Charlotte, that can, in one project, do something that is taking us multiple projects to do across our rooftops, for example," Hazel said.
If the City Council approves, the solar developer would lease the site for $1 a year for 20 years. Charlotte Water would buy the electricity through Energy United in the form of what are called Renewable Energy Credits. That will add about $19,000 to $24,000 a year to the city's electric bill.
Hazel said the Huntersville project could begin generating electricity by 2024.
The city also is working with a different developer on a much larger 35-megawatt solar farm in Statesville. And it recently sought bids for another similar project in the Charlotte area.
