Georgetown renegotiating solar, wind power contracts
https://www.statesman.com/news/20181216/georgetown-renegotiating-solar-wind-power-contracts Dec 16, 2018
The city of Georgetown’s bill for wind and solar energy ended up being $8.6 million more than anticipated in fiscal year 2018 because the falling prices of oil and gas meant it had to sell its surplus renewable power for less than forecast, said City Manager David Morgan.
The city had budgeted $45 million for renewable energy but ended up paying $53.6 million, he said.
Georgetown was able to reduce the $8.6 million unanticipated extra to $6.8 million through savings from lower capital improvement utility project costs, Morgan said. It paid the remaining $6.8 million with reserves from the city’s energy fund, he said.
The City Council also approved a budget amendment Dec. 12 that will build the reserves in the electric fund, which helped to pay for some of the loss, from $1.9 million back up to $4 million in 2019.
Georgetown is in the middle of renegotiating its 20- to 25-year wind and solar contracts to try to get a better deal, Morgan said....