The conversion of most of North Vernon’s city buildings and street lights to solar energy is behind schedule, and August is now the anticipated completion date.
The North Vernon City Council approved the project in April 2017, with the goal of becoming the first city in Indiana to convert to solar energy.
“We’ll get there. It has taken longer than we thought, but it is close now,” North Vernon Mayor Mike Ochs said.
Johnson-Melloh Solutions was hired for the project, which had an original finish date of this past December.
Unexpected but necessary repairs to some city buildings, administrative snags and scheduling conflicts with Johnson-Melloh and Duke Energy resulted in delays, North Vernon Clerk-Treasurer Shawn Gerkin said.
The project was planned in two stages, Gerkin said. First, all the departments had to be converted to LED lighting. Then, all the solar panels will be installed and hooked up. That is when the savings will begin, he added.
“Our hope is that our first payment for the cost of the conversion will be made by money we will save on the 90-some meters billed. If the savings at the fire department is an example, we won’t have any trouble doing that,” Gerkin said.
North Vernon Fire Department is the only city department totally converted to solar energy, Gerkin said. The department’s electric bill for February 2017 was $622, but the bill for February 2018 was only $9.40.
