Mayor Tim Keller Announces 12 City Solar Projects
Today Mayor Tim Keller, City Councilor Pat Davis, Environment New Mexico, Department of Municipal Development and the Office of U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich announced phase I of a $25 million investment into making Albuquerque a leading solar city.
Today’s announcement represents an investment of $5.2 million for solar panels at 12 different city owned buildings. The money for these projects came from Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBS) which is a federal program designed to finance renewable energy projects. The CREBS bonds come with virtually no interest and will pay themselves off within 20 years in energy cost savings.
“Utilizing our incredible natural resource of sunshine to power our city is an incredible opportunity,” stated Mayor Tim Keller. “We need to continue to take steps toward becoming a net zero city, to reduce our carbon footprint while also creating local jobs in the industry.”
The City of Albuquerque has a goal to make all of Albuquerque’s energy 25% renewable. As of right now, only 3% of our energy is from renewable sources. All projects below will start in late to mid-July and be completed in September of 2018. The Main Library will start in November of 2018 and be completed sometime in February of 2019.
“I was proud to help secure the funding to make these investments in renewable energy projects,” said Senator Heinrich. “I am excited to see Albuquerque take the lead in moving energy use by city facilities toward more sustainable and renewable sources. This will create new jobs and save taxpayer dollars. With our bountiful wind and solar resources, if we continue to make investments like this, New Mexico can become the epicenter of the clean energy economy.”
Phase II represents an investment of over $20 million to be installed at 17 different City of Albuquerque buildings.
Four local companies have received the first 12 projects.
Akal Global:
Albuquerque Fire Station # 2 located at 2401 Alumni Drive SE.
Albuquerque Fire Station # 7 located at 5715 Central Avenue NW.
Albuquerque Fire Station # 8 located at 1400 Indian View Place NE.
Ladera Golf Course located at 3401 Ladera Drive NW.
Alamosa Community Center located at 6900 Gonzales SW.
Albuquerque Police Academy and Forensics Lab located at 5412 2nd Street NW.
PPC Solar:
Albuquerque Fire Station 21 located at 10400 Cibola Loop NW.
Rio Grande Renewables:
Albuquerque Main Library located at 501 Copper NW.
Sol Luna Solar:
Albuquerque Fire Station # 5 located at 123 Dallas Street NE
Albuquerque Fire Station # 11 located at 5403 Southern Avenue SE.
Albuquerque Fire Station # 18 located at 6100 Taylor Ranch Road NW.