State Auditor says solar projects could save Iowans more than $375 million

On February 25, 2021, State Auditor Rob Sand released a financial impacts review of public entity solar energy installations. The State auditor report found public solar energy projects are saving taxpayer’s funds. If each county, each county seat, and each school district created a solar installation the same average size as the current 80 communities in our state with public solar projects, Iowa taxpayers could realize a savings of $375 million. And we believe that this is a very conservative savings estimate.

These 80 communities are spread throughout the state, and some of these solar arrays produce annual savings as high as $80,000. The average annual savings was more than $26,475, and the average savings over the lifetime of the installation was $716,437. These savings amounts are transforming energy expenses to creating job opportunities.  For example, a solar-powered school building could save $80,000 in energy costs, and those dollars could be used to cover the cost of a teaching position and could provide the capacity to keep the school open.

Read the full report here: https://www.auditor.iowa.gov/media/cms/IowaSolarReport_55192DA30BB49.pdf