The Athens-Clarke County government dedicated a solar array at the Cedar Creek Water Reclamation Facility this week. Mayor Kelly Girtz was among those gathered for the ceremonial ribbon-cutting.
The array contains more than 1800 solar panels which are expected to produce a million kilowatts a year. According to County Manager Blaine Williams, that’s enough to offset about half of the plant’s energy usage. County Manger Blaine Williams.
“Mayor Girtz recently signed a clean energy pledge with mayors from across the United States,” Williams said. “And the idea is that within so many years the unified government will become dependent on clean energy only and this is one of those first steps.”
Girtz recently joined more than 200 other U.S. mayors in signing a Sierra Club “Mayors for 100 Percent Clean Energy” pledge.
Williams says the county has been working toward the dedication for some time.
“This has been four years in the making, the Public Utilities Department stepped forward to do one of our biggest arrays to date. And it makes sense, with our water reclamation facilities and water treatment facilities and the jail, these are some of our largest users of energy.”
The array is part of a partnership with Georgia Power through it’s Ready Program.