Washington Twp. Schools Mulling Solar Possibility

The Washington Township Board of Education decided at Tuesday’s reorganizational meeting to explore the possibility of having the Morris County Improvement Authority add solar panels to the rooftop of .

The idea, if it comes to fruition, would save the district a significant amount of money on the cost of electricity and could create forward movement toward the implementation of solar power at the district’s other schools.

“We will realize immediate energy savings (if selected),” said District Superintendent Jeff Mohre.

Although three of the district’s five school buildings—Walter J. Kossman Elementary, Benedict A. Cucinella Elementary, and Long Valley Middle School—are currently eligible for selection, the board decided to select only the Middle School for initial participation in the energy project. This was done partially due to the fact that all district students eventually attend through Long Valley Middle School; therefore, this would allow the community the best chance to participate and learn about renewable energy.

“It would be a great educational experience for all the occupants of the building,” said Board of Education member Kathy Koop. “What a great message we’d be sending not only to the students of this building, but to the teachers. Solar power’s just a great way as far as an energy source, and I think it would be a great experience.”

The district also selected just one site for the project to allow the district to have time to explore other, independent solar energy ventures for the other sites. Independent ventures, though they could be costly to the district if carried out, could allow for the possibility of generating district revenue off of Solar Renewable Energy Credits (S-RECs).

“Perhaps we could take some time over the next year or two and investigate what it would take to do a project of that magnitude independent of the Improvement Authority to see if we, as a school, could benefit from the S-REC trading, if you will,” said Mohre. “It could potentially generate revenue for the district.”

Although the Improvement Authority’s purchase and installation of solar materials for the project would be of no cost to the district, the district would not be able to produce revenue off of S-RECs generated under the county-implemented project.

“(Under the Improvement Authority), obviously there’s a company that’s going to be making money on the excess energy that we are generating, but that’s not our business, that is their business,” said Mohre.

Although nothing is set in stone–the Improvement Authority still has to select Long Valley Middle School as a candidate for this project—Mohre is excited at the possibility of beginning to implement non-invasive, cost-efficient energy at no cost to the district or the taxpayers of Washington Township.

“The glory of what we did tonight comes from the fact that by participating, if we are selected by the Improvement Authority, there are no costs to the school district,” said Mohre.