DC Board adds judicial center geothermal to capital improvement plan for $11 million
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board has approved adding the geothermal project to heat and cool the judicial center to the capital improvement plan for 2025-2029 at a cost of $11 million dollars.
Prior to the voice vote at the September 18 meeting approving the resolution to add the judicial center geothermal to the CIP, Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from the Town of Spring Brook, asked if there were any assurances the solar panels for the project would be made in the United States.
The judicial center project will include five acres of solar panels.
Residents in the Town of Spring Brook living near the Elk Creek solar project said they did not like seeing acres and acres of solar panels but that they would like it more if the solar panels were made in America, Bjork said.
Bjork said he was privileged to see the presentation made to the facilities committee about the proposal for using geothermal and solar panels to heat and cool the judicial center.
When Bjork asked about the use of solar panels made in America at the Dunn County Board’s budget workshop in August after a presentation by Dan Dunbar, chief information officer and assistant county manager, Bjork said he was not sure exactly what he had been told.
The intent is to use solar panels made in America, said Kelly McCullough, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Dunn County Board.
Solar panels made in American will be prioritized for the project, although there cannot be an absolute guarantee that all of the solar panels will be made in the United States, he said.
“That’s good enough for me,” Bjork said.
McCullough said he wanted to commend the work of two facilities committee chairs who had worked extensively on the geothermal project and who have both since passed away, Michael Rogers and Don Kuether.
McCullough said he wanted to commend the current facilities committee chair, Ann Vogl, as well for her work on the project, and for the work by the facilities committee members and for the staff work completed by Dunbar.
Performance-based
The “energy debt” listed on the CIP of $11 million is new debt that will be taken out in coordination with a performance-based contract, according to the resolution.
A recently-completed energy study by Veregy LLC concluded that Dunn County would save enough money on energy to pay for a new heating-ventilation-air conditioning system at the Dunn County Judicial Center.
The judicial center was built in 1998. The HVAC system is based on boilers and chillers, and full replacement of the system would cost $3 million to $6 million
The existing judicial center heating and cooling system is inefficient and is at the end-of-life.
The Dunn County Government Center and the Neighbors of Dunn County both have a geothermal HVAC system, and the recommendation from the energy study is to install geothermal for the judicial center with solar panels to power the system.
Inflation Reduction Act
The federal government’s Inflation Reduction Act allows tax-exempt and governmental entities to receive elective payments for 12 clean energy tax credits.
United States residents can get money back on their federal tax returns, and the federal government will award funds to government entities and tax exempt organizations for installing clean energy systems.
Qualified Energy Service companies will guarantee an annual energy savings, and the savings can be used to pay off the installation costs.
The installation of a geothermal system and solar panels would be at no additional cost to taxpayers. The energy service company would pay the difference if Dunn County does not save as much energy as the company guaranteed.
A number of years back, the state of Wisconsin encouraged school districts to make energy efficiency improvements and to use Qualified Energy Service companies.
The Federal Department of Energy has a Qualified List of Energy Service Companies that have been approved by a review board.
According to the resolution approved by the Dunn County Board September 18, the addition of energy debt and the solar and geothermal projects will be funded by the energy savings they provide over a 20-year lifecycle.
The addition of the new systems will provide energy savings equal to or better than the annual debt service payment. Additional credits from energy programs will be in excess of $3 million, and this solution will replace the existing HVAC system at the judicial center, result in no additional tax burden on county residents, and will provide future savings, according to the resolution.
