[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13194-13195]
[From the U.S. 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.

[[Page 13195]]

  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 
     Haughton 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, 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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