Austin Takes a Step Towards Putting Solar on City Buildings
AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin City Council voted yesterday to begin the process of installing solar power systems on city-owned buildings to generate affordable, reliable and clean energy.
On Thursday, council approved a resolution directing the city manager to create a plan to install solar systems on city buildings. Kaiba White, climate policy and outreach specialist with the Texas office of Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“This resolution is an important first step towards leveraging unused roof space to generate much-needed power and create financial savings. If done right, this investment can also establish a revolving fund to use electric bill savings from solar to make other needed upgrades to city buildings, such as energy efficiency improvements and upgrading HVAC systems to efficiency heat pumps. That would be a smart use of taxpayer dollars that should be included in the city budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The Austin Office of Climate Action and Resilience determined that 10 megawatts of solar could be installed on city buildings – enough to power 2000 homes – requiring a $14 million investment that would pay for itself in as little as six years. Austin’s embrace of solar energy is good for the environment and the city’s bottom line.”