The City of Valparaiso announced that so far this year, solar panels installed on five City facilities have produced 1 million kilowatt hours, representing nearly $145,000 in operational savings.
“Utilities are some of the City’s largest expenses, so this substantial savings is a real win for our residents,” said Mayor Jon Costas.
The City of Valparaiso says it has added 772 solar panels, “which are expected to save taxpayers more than $5.2 million in electrical costs over the life of the panels – not including additional earnings based on surplus energy produced.” The panels are located on the city’s three treatment plants, the City Services building on Joliet Road and at City Hall.
The City of Valparaiso says the payback for the panels is estimated to be six years or less based upon the current electrical production that we are seeing and the credits that we will receive of approximately $200,000 from the inflation reduction act of 2022. This will be a reimbursement from the federal government.