UA System project is the fourth largest university solar installation in the US

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Arkansas’s largest-ever solar project might not have moved forward had plans not been finalized before a new law went into effect that changed the financing structure of solar energy projects in the state.

Bill Halter, the chief executive of Scenic Hill Solar of North Little Rock, said the University of Arkansas System’s solar installation, which will span 18 sites and provide renewable energy to all UA System campuses, is the fourth largest university solar installation in the United States. It will deliver 66 megawatts of electricity. The project dwarfs all other solar installations built in Arkansas so far.

“Today Arkansas has a once in a generation opportunity,” Halter said during a press conference Tuesday at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock. “The question, as always, is whether we will take it or squander it. The solar market has exploded upwards over the last decade in the country and in Arkansas. If we pull together as a community we have a shot, but if we are divided, then 50 years from now another former lieutenant governor of Arkansas will stand in front of Arkansans and describe how we blew it.”

<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="627116" data-permalink="https://arktimes.com/bill-halter-profile" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&quality=89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS R100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1729592585","copyright":"","focal_length":"113","iso":"6400","shutter_speed":"0.00625","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="bill halter profile" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Bill Halter speaks at a press conference at Pulaski Technical College.

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?fit=720%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-627116" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=720%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&quality=89&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&quality=89&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&quality=89&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=89&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&quality=89&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&quality=89&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&quality=89&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&quality=89&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&quality=89&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-scaled.jpg?w=2340&quality=89&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bill-halter-profile-1200x800.jpg?w=370&quality=89&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px"/>Credit: Phillip Powell / Arkansas Times Halter, who was lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2011, joined UA System leadership and representatives from Climate United at the event Tuesday to celebrate the project.

Climate United is a national nonprofit that will provide $31.8 million in pre-construction funding for the project. The organization received nearly $7 billion in federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to invest in projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

First Solar, a U.S. based solar manufacturer, will supply the solar panels to Scenic Hill Solar for the project. The company said all of the panels will be manufactured in the U.S.

Those involved with the solar project rushed to meet a Sept. 30 deadline so that the installation would not be subject to a new state law that went into effect at the beginning of October. That legislation, passed in 2023, changes the state’s net metering policy, making it less favorable to small-scale solar operators and more favorable to big power companies.

“Unfortunately our policy is going in the wrong direction,” Halter told the Arkansas Times after the event. “And policies do change over time, but this is truly a once in a generation opportunity for our state, and it would be a shame if the only thing that was holding us back was certain policy choices.”

The UA System project was able to qualify for so-called 1-to-1 net metering before the Sept. 30 deadline. Halter told the Arkansas Times that “under the new policy framework this project wouldn’t have moved forward.”

“Net metering” refers to the practice of allowing owners of solar panels or other renewable energy sources to sell the electricity they produce back to the utility companies that provide most of the power on the electric grid. Under 1-to-1 net metering, homes and businesses receive the full retail value of the electricity they produce as a credit. But under the state’s new policy, solar producers will receive smaller credits. It also caps the size of residential and commercial projects at five megawatts. The Arkansas Times previously reported on Little Rock School District missing out on hundreds of thousands in annual savings due to the policy change.

<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="627119" data-permalink="https://arktimes.com/donald-bobbitt-solar" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&quality=89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"7.1","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS R100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1729591467","copyright":"","focal_length":"165","iso":"6400","shutter_speed":"0.005","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="donald bobbitt solar" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" University of Arkansas President Donald Bobbitt spoke at an event announcing the university’s solar project with Scenic Hill Solar

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?fit=720%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-627119" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=720%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&quality=89&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&quality=89&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&quality=89&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=89&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&quality=89&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&quality=89&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&quality=89&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&quality=89&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&quality=89&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-scaled.jpg?w=2340&quality=89&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/donald-bobbitt-solar-1200x800.jpg?w=370&quality=89&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px"/>University of Arkansas President Donald Bobbitt spoke at an event announcing the university’s solar project with Scenic Hill Solar. Bobbitt is set to retire in January of next year. Credit: Phillip Powell / Arkansas Times The UA System expects to see $120 million in savings over 25 years from the project, Donald Bobbitt, UA System president, said.

Bobbitt said he hopes the University of Arkansas would reinvest those savings in mitigating tuition increases for students caused by inflation. The project will also provide educational opportunities. The solar installations will need maintenance, and Bobbitt said he sees it as an opportunity for students to learn how to do that work and for the UA to become a leader in solar maintenance training.

“Our initial investment of nearly $32 million will catalyze a project that is over $100 million dollars and catalyze significant private investment and lead to direct revenues for American made technologies, contractors and workforce that is putting steel in the ground,” Climate United CEO Beth Bafford said.

The clean power generated from the project would be the equivalent of planting 46 million trees or removing 7 billion passenger vehicles from the road in terms of offsetting carbon emissions, Bafford said.

<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" data-attachment-id="627115" data-permalink="https://arktimes.com/beth-babbett-solar" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1707&quality=89&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2560,1707" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"6.3","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS R100","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1729591883","copyright":"","focal_length":"135","iso":"6400","shutter_speed":"0.005","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="beth bafford solar" data-image-description="" data-image-caption=" Beth Bafford leads Climate United, a national nonprofit coalition funding the clean energy transition with federal money.

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?fit=720%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?fit=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar.jpg?resize=780%2C520&quality=89&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-627115" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=720%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1 720w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&quality=89&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&quality=89&ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&quality=89&ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=500%2C333&quality=89&ssl=1 500w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=1568%2C1045&quality=89&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&quality=89&ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C533&quality=89&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&quality=89&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&quality=89&ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-scaled.jpg?w=2340&quality=89&ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/arktimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/beth-babbett-solar-1200x800.jpg?w=370&quality=89&ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px"/>Beth Bafford leads Climate United, a national nonprofit coalition funding the clean energy transition with federal money from the Inflation Reduction Act. Credit: Phillip Powell / Arkansas Times [ad_1]

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