Data Analytics and Statistics Hub

Clean and Sustainable Environment

Receive 20% of power for County government operations from renewable sources by 2025

2% 

FY20 Actual


FY19 Actual
2%

Objective Description

Clean, renewable energy brings better air; predictable, increasingly lower customer pricing; and local job deployment opportunities. Howard County currently has solar energy generation at seven facilities: Robinson Nature Center (rooftop), Miller Branch Library (rooftop), East Columbia Library (rooftop), New Cut Road retired landfill (2,000 ground mount solar panels that supply 90% of the power to Worthington Elementary School), George Howard Building (solar powered light poles for electric vehicle charging), District Court (rooftop), and Little Patuxent Water Reclamation Plant (solar canopies over the parking lot)

Trend Analysis

In FY 2020, the percentage of Howard County government operations powered by solar remained steady at 2%. In 2020, Howard County signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to install 24 megawatts (MW) of solar on County-owned and privately-owned sites. These solar projects will power nearly 50 percent of County operations and result in $1.2 million in savings over 25 years, with no up-front capital costs to the County. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2021. Therefore, the percentage of County operations powered by solar is expected to remain unchanged in FY 2021 but will increase significantly in FY 2022.

Strategies

  • Conduct analysis of County properties to determine feasibility of adding solar to rooftops, parking lots, and lands.
  • Install solar projects on County properties, including County-owned projects and/or Power Purchase Agreements.
  • Monitor and report on energy generation from solar installations on County properties.

Source: Office of Community Sustainability

Detailed Analysis


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