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City of West Sacramento goes solar
Aug 9, 2016, 1:43pm PDT
The city of West Sacramento is spending $4 million to mount solar panels on roofs around municipal locations including City Hall, the fire station, the water tower and on land near the port.

The city began work on the project in May after securing a $3.8 million loan from Bank of America. Construction is expected to finish in November.

Solar panels on West Sacramento City Hall at 1110 West Capitol Ave.
Curtis Winchester | City of West Sacramento
The loan is expected to be paid off after 15 years, at which time the city may have saved a total of $78,500 on its electricity bills. But after the loan is paid off, the city expects savings of $406,600 annually.

“This just made sense when they crunched the numbers,” said Curtis Winchester, construction manager for the city of West Sacramento.

The project is part of the city’s “ green and sustainable community strategy,” a 2008 municipal policy that promoted the use of renewables whenever possible.

In October 2015, the city hired Arc Consulting to perform a feasibility study that looked at solar projects.

The city then entered into a design-build contract in February with SunWorks Inc., a Roseville-based company that designs, sells, installs and maintains solar systems.

Allen Young covers state and city government, economic development, education and transportation.