Pulaski County officials braved the chilly weather Monday morning to announce they were powering up a 4.7 million watt solar array at the Port of Little Rock. The nearby humming of the solar array acted as an appropriate soundtrack for the announcement.
This project has been about eight years in the making, Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde told attendees. Completed in partnership with North Little Rock-based company Today’s Power Inc., the 40-acre field of solar panels will meet approximately 90% of the county’s electrical needs. Nearly 15,000 panels make up the array, and there’s still room for expansion.
Pulaski County GovernmentThe switch to solar is free for taxpayers, and it is expected to save the county $250,000 a year in current electric bills, officials said. The county pays for electricity at various buildings, including the jail and sheriff’s office.
“Not long ago, if I told you the plan for the county would be harvesting solar energy to provide 90% of the county’s electrical needs, the collective grumble from the naysayers would have registered on the Richter scale,” Hyde joked. “Moreover, if I told you that the project would be completed at no additional cost to the taxpayer and save approximately $250,000 in electrical costs, I’m pretty sure the grumble would have been audible on the moon.”
Brian ChilsonDerek Dyson, president of Today’s Power, was on site Monday to flip the switch and get the solar array in action.
Today’s Power owns the facility. For at least the next 25 years, Pulaski County will pay the company to generate electricity from the sun at a fixed rate that will be lower than power sold by Entergy. The county will pay 5.3 cents per kilowatt hour as opposed to the 8.3 cent rate charged by Entergy, a county spokesperson said.
Brian Chilson