WHAT WE REPORTED Georgetown entered long-term, fixed-rate contracts for 144 megawatt-hours from EDF Renewable Energy’s Spinning Spur 3 wind farm near Amarillo, and for 150 MWh from Clearway Energy's Buckthorn solar plant in West Texas. The city touted its switch to renewables this summer as a win-win for Georgetown's economy and the environment.
THE LATEST City officials said in December that they would
need to renegotiate the contracts after falling energy prices lost Georgetown Utility Systems $6.84 million in projected revenue expected to come from selling back excess energy on the open market. Georgetown won $1 million for Bloomberg Philanthropies to kick start a plan to lease rooftop and property space to install solar panels and storage batteries. The first solar panel installations
will begin in the summer.