Project Overview
When Chambersburg – home to Pennsylvania’s largest municipal public power system and the County Seat of Franklin County – decided to embrace solar, they did a nationwide search for a team who could help them create jobs and drive economic development while protecting ratepayers. Thanks to a partnership with Sun Tribe, Chambersburg will be able to protect ratepayers against rising wholesale power prices while supplying 10 percent of the Borough’s electricity.
Jeffrey Stonehill
“After conversations with some of the nation’s leading renewable energy companies, we thought Sun Tribe was the best partner to meet our vision and deliver affordable energy for the Borough’s ratepayers.”
Project Highlights
15MW
System size – meeting 10% of the community’s needs
2,450 Homes Per Year
Powered by Chambersburg’s solar system
425,000 Metric Tons of CO2
Potential carbon emissions avoided thanks to this project
Chambersburg supplies more utility services than any municipality in Pennsylvania.
The 15MW project will help protect Chambersburg’s ratepayers from market fluctuations.
“As we look to the future, it’s clear that solar provides an exciting opportunity for municipal utilities to continue protecting ratepayers while strengthening local economies.”
More Details
Municipal Innovation
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania is no stranger to innovation and thinking about energy at scale – it’s a “clean, green, safe, and healthy community” that today is the largest Borough in Pennsylvania and runs the Commonwealth’s largest municipal electric utility. It also operates its own electric and natural gas systems, as well as a regional water system, a regional sanitary sewer system, and a storm sewer utility.
Residents expect their leaders to understand infrastructure and to plan for the future, as the community continues to welcome new families and businesses following two decades of growth.
That proud history of smart management combined with a push towards innovation and an interest in increased economic development led Chambersburg to consider solar.
A Nationwide Search
Chambersburg leaders knew they needed a solar partner capable of delivering quickly – a solar partner with public sector experience and a history of community-focused projects. After a comprehensive search, including conversations with some of the country’s leading providers, they found that partner in Sun Tribe Development – Sun Tribe’s provider of large-scale renewable energy solutions.
The Chambersburg-Sun Tribe partnership is part of a clear trend: solar is now often the cheapest power source available (with costs down 70% over the past decade, according to the Solar Energy Industry Association). For public sector leaders looking to manage challenging budgets and utilities looking to protect ratepayers, solar offers an affordable, reliable solution. It can also be a critical economic driver: 2019 alone saw $18.7 billion invested in the American economy thanks to solar.
Read more about the Chambersburg-Sun Tribe partnership in WHYY (NPR), The Franklin County Free Press, and Solar Power World.
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