BPU’s new solar facility could reduce energy bills for KCK’s low-income residents
A new community solar project may give Wyandotte County residents a chance to save on their energy bills and see more stable utility rates in the long term, the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities announced last week.
The BPU’s board of directors recently signed off on a 5-megawatt solar energy facility that will generate additional power to Wyandotte County. The board also approved establishing a program that would put some of the financial benefits generated by that facility toward energy bill assistance for low income residents.
The new local energy source, approved last week, would both add to the energy load that the BPU produces in the county and reduce the amount of energy that it would need to purchase from the grid. This can help keep energy costs down for residents, according to BPU.
The BPU will begin construction on the solar facility this summer and should be completed in the fall of 2027, Andrew Ferris, the utility’s chief financial officer, told The Star. Construction will cost between $12 million and $13 million, although the BPU plans to apply for and receive numerous clean energy tax credits to help foot the bill.
“If those credits are awarded as expected, they would significantly reduce BPU’s net project cost,” Ferris said, adding that the BPU will share the final cost of the project after receiving those credits.
People who fit specific eligibility criteria to be considered low income may, if the program that BPU board members approved last week gets approval from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, qualify for credits that would be added to their utility bills.
In other words, some people could expect to eventually see a few bucks off their monthly electric bills if the IRS says that’s OK.
Those credits would come from the annual net financial benefit that the BPU gets from operating the solar facility. BPU will calculate that net financial benefit by taking the value of the energy it produces and subtracting the costs to operate and pay for the facility.
Whatever that amount is, the BPU will be obligated to take at least half of it to put toward low income residents’ bill relief.
Low income benefit program
Households at 150% of the federal poverty level and under would qualify for the program, meaning that someone who makes no more than $1,956 per month would qualify for the credits. In a household of two, a monthly household income of $2,644 would apply. In a household of four, a monthly income of $4,019 would qualify, according to criteria outlined on the Kansas Department for Children and Families website.
People who qualify and who want to receive those bill credits would need to apply for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program. BPU said that after the IRS considers whether to approve its assistance program using the solar facility, it will share more detailed information on how, and when, people should get enrolled.
And, people wouldn’t see that relief on their utility bills until after the IRS approves the application and after the solar facility is up and running.
This is different from BPU’s solar farm
The BPU already has a 1-megawatt solar farm that’s in operation. However, energy from that facility is only available to people who sign up to source energy from that facility, Ferris said. People who choose to tap into that energy source can save about $40 per solar panel they use, per year, according to the BPU’s website.
