[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 118 (Friday, July 25, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H6851-H6852]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SOLAR ENERGY AT THE TOLEDO ZOO
(Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute.)
Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Toledo Zoo,
recently voted the best zoo in America, on its dedication of a new 2.1-
megawatt solar array.
The project is a win for everyone involved. It embraces the future.
It will supply 30 percent of the zoo's electricity needs, and it makes
use of a vacant brownfield site in the city that would otherwise be a
financial and environmental burden.
It serves as a wonderful educational tool for the zoo's more than
800,000 annual visitors.
Unfortunately, this is success story that will be difficult to
replicate in Ohio due to the backward energy policy recently enacted by
Ohio's Governor and State legislature.
As America strives to regain energy security, we must embrace all
energy options, especially innovative, renewable energy sources that
will power our future into and beyond the 21st century.
Hats off to the Toledo Zoo for serving as a national leader in
advancing this goal.
Madam Speaker, I will include for the Record a recent article from
the Toledo Blade detailing this really incredible success.
[From the Blade, July 22, 2014]
Rudolph/Libbe Project: Solar Array To Supply Power to Toledo Zoo
Brownfield site will again be productive
(By Tom Henry)
A massive, 2.1-megawatt solar array that has put 22 acres
of vacant South Toledo land back into production is to be
dedicated today. It's the kind of comeback that supporters
believe will become less common across Ohio because of a
recent bill Gov. John Kasich signed into law discouraging
investments in renewable power.
The ceremony for the Rudolph/Libbe project near the Toledo
Zoo is expected to draw a contingent of area business and
government leaders interested in seeing how land contaminated
by past industrial practices, known as brownfield sites, can
go back on the tax rolls and generate clean energy while
reducing blight.
In this case, a group of local investors led by Rudolph/
Libbe Cos.--a limited liability company called Anthony Wayne
Solar Number 1--is doing that for one of the region's largest
employers and one of its most popular destinations, the
Toledo Zoo.
The solar array and property, adjacent to the north side of
the zoo's main parking lot between Anthony Wayne Trail and
Spencer Street, are owned by those investors, who have a
long-term contract in place to sell electricity generated at
the site exclusively to the zoo.
The project, developed by Rudolph/Libbe and a sister
company, GEM Energy, will generate about 30 percent of the
Toledo Zoo's annual electricity needs, Jason Slattery,
director of solar for Rudolph/Libbe Inc., said.
``This project is a great example of the public and private
sectors working together to benefit the zoo and the
community,'' Mr. Slattery said. ``We took a contaminated
brownfield site, a financial burden for the city, and turned
it into a win for the city of Toledo and the Toledo Zoo.''
He and other supporters believe such projects will be
harder to come by now, though, because of the two-year
legislative freeze on renewable-energy mandates that Mr.
Kasich has signed into law.
That legislation, known as Senate Bill 310, applies only to
utilities, not companies such as Rudolph/Libbe. But Ohio
became the nation's first state with renewable-energy
mandates to enact a two-year timeout.
A 2008 law requires utilities doing business in Ohio to
steadily invest more in renewable power through 2025, when at
least 12.5 percent of the electricity they provide is
supposed to come from clean sources such as wind and solar
energy.
Renewable energy advocates fear that two-year hiatus will
put out a message to the business community that Ohio is no
longer receptive to such investments.
Rudolph/Libbe, one of the region's largest contractors,
expects to be doing more work in Michigan and New York, which
have strong incentives for solar projects, Mr. Slattery said.
The solar industry has had setbacks from the failure of a
high-profile manufacturer, California-based Solyndra, as well
as the deep financial troubles of local manufacturers such as
Xunlight and Willard & Kelsey.
But Rudolph/Libbe's an installer, not a manufacturer.
Growth in solar nationally has transformed the company's
business model.
Since 2008, Rudolph/Libbe went from virtually no
involvement in solar to having 10 percent of its revenue come
from it.
It believes solar-installation projects will eventually
become the backbone of as much as 30 percent of Rudolph/
Libbe's revenue.
Although Rudolph/Libbe will likely have to rely on states
other than Ohio for that sort of push, it still expects to
line up some Ohio contracts during the two-year freeze and
hopes state legislators regain their interest in what the
company sees as a budding industry, Mr. Slattery said.
``We think the costs of doing solar is an unstoppable train
and it's not getting off the tracks,'' he said.
Rudolph-Libbe's costs for solar projects have come down
from $9 per watt to $2 per watt since 2008. More affordable
prices have resulted in more business, Mr. Slattery has said.
For the project near the zoo, investors worked with the
Lucas County Land Bank, an agency that strives to repurpose
vacant land, he said.
The site, formerly in receivership, was once home to a
Haugh-ton Elevator Co. factory, but it has not been used
since the early '90s.
There are 28,500 solar panels on 15 of the site's 22 acres.
Additional panels could be put on some the remaining seven
acres in the future. Officials first want to assess the
viability of adding more, after examining the amount of shade
cast off nearby homes along Spencer Street during the four
seasons, Mr. Slattery said.
The site is believed to be one of the nation's largest
solar installations generating power for a zoo.
``This solar array supports the zoo's mission by using
cleaner and greener energy, reducing reliance on nonrenewable
energy while providing an inspiring example for zoo
visitors,'' Jeff Sailer, Toledo Zoo executive director, said.
Rudolph/Libbe also developed the zoo's 1,400-panel walkway,
called SolarWalk,
[[Page H6852]]
which was installed in 2010, as well as multiple other
projects with the Ohio Air National Guard and ones with the
city of Bryan and First Solar LLC of Perrysburg in recent
years.
The zoo also has a wind turbine generating power for its
main parking lot, and geothermal wells to heat and cool the
aquarium.
Bill Rudolph, chairman of Rudolph/Libbe Cos., said the
companies are ``honored to support the Toledo Zoo's mission
of environmental stewardship through this project.''
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has planted trees
and shrubs near the fences to create a visual buffer and
spruce up the aesthetics for area residents. Plans also call
for native grasses to be planted across the site.
Union labor from northwest Ohio was used to build the
project, which created about 60 temporary construction jobs.
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