A plan to install solar panels on city-owned rooftops is set to be considered Monday evening by the City-County Council.
The city’s Office of Sustainability selected Indianapolis-based Johnson-Melloh Solutions Inc. and Carmel-based Telamon
Corp. to install the solar panels after putting out a request last fall.
The companies, working together, plan to lease space on certain city-owned rooftops and sell the electricity generated by
the panels to Indianapolis Power & Light Co.
The city will use the money from the lease, as much as $24,000 for each site, to support sustainability projects such as
replacing street lamps with more energy-efficient bulbs.
“This is an opportunity to really showcase solar energy in our community,” said John Hazlett, director of the
city’s Office of Sustainability, during an April 26 Public Works Committee meeting.
Committee members unanimously approved the lease proposal by a 7-0 vote.
Leases for each site would run for 10 years with a five-year renewal option. The companies would pay the city $10,000 the
first year for each lease and $1,000 for each following year.
Hazlett said the companies initially are targeting five locations, but the number could grow to as many as 30. The buildings
under consideration are Department of Public Works and Indy Parks properties.
“We’ve got a lot of unused space on the roofs of many municipal buildings,” said City-County Councilor
Zach Adamson, a member of the Public Works Committee who favors the agreement. “There’s a whole slew of possible
locations.”
Solar panels also could be installed on the ground. But they would be protected by an 8-foot chain-link fence and away from
prime park space, said Travis Murphy, Johnson Melloh’s business development manager.
“Our intention is to maximize the roof space if we can,” he told committee members. “We don’t want
to take advantage of green space. That would be few and far between.”
The city would have the option of purchasing the solar panels after the leases expire.
The initiative is the third solar-energy project Indianapolis has undertaken. The city has installed solar-thermal systems,
which help to heat water, at three parks facilities, and has put solar panels on the downtown City-County building.
Those efforts are part of a push started after Mayor Greg Ballard took office in 2008 to make 61 city-owned buildings more
efficient with $18 million in upgrades to lighting, HVAC equipment and building controls.
Founded in 2009, Johnson Melloh Solutions is a division of Johnson Melloh Inc., a local mechanical contractor.
Telamon is a technology firm founded in 1985 by Albert Chen.
The two are part of ET Solutions, a joint venture that is leasing space at Indianapolis International Airport for an 11.5-megawatt
solar farm on 60 acres at the airport’s entrance. Construction on the project
is set to begin in the summer.
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Companies seek solar-panel lease contracts from city
Scott Olson
May 14, 2012
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liek the rest of America
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These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.
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It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.
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No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.
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whoa!
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Fed tax credit for 30% of the panel cost, Indianapolis credit for permit fees (which may or may not be offset by the lease income), hmm IPL buys at $0.24 per kilowatt and sells residential at $0.06 (or less) per kilowatt. I see who is subsidizing this deal, it is everyone who buys electricity or pays taxes.
How about full disclosure with these arrangements, Zach? Including lease payments, rebates in permit fees, the Indianapolis program for subsidizing solar power, stuff like that. Show what the true financial arrangements for this deal.
You said "This project won't cost the City or the tax payers anything." First, that's redundant, as the City has no money other than taxpayer money. Second, the statement is just false. Look here:
http://dsireusa.org/incentives/index.cfm?EE=0&RE=0&SPV=0&ST=0§or=Commercial&state=IN&sh=1
There are Federal and State gifts on that list, so yes, taxpayers lose, probably more thanthe measly income from the leases.
You make the suggestion that in 15 years the solar systems may be purchased by the taxpayers...as if 15-year old systems would have any value. We should all be on LFTR/MSR by then.
Is there a clause in the contract that conveys ownership of the systems to the taxpayers, free and clear, if these companies go bankrupt, as may happen when the tax credits and rebates dry up?
Does IPL get tax credits and/or rebates for buying the solar power?
Why don't the municipal buildings these systems are installed on just consume the generated power? Perhaps because IPL will pay more for it than what IPL charges the municipal buildings for line power? IPL can pay more with taxpayer subsidy offsetting the difference.
Zach Adamson
City-County Council, At-Large
Which campaigns were greased?