Castlegar City Council is hoping for some grant funding to put solar panels up at City Hall. The Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) is accepting applications for its Energy Sustainability Grant Fund and City staff have been instructed to apply. Mayor Bruno Tassone says the plans have been in the works since last year, but now is the right time to move forward.
“We looked at the numbers back then and the numbers didn’t jive. So we found out the CBT has some grant funding money to do this, and we’re going to apply for it and we’re still probably going to go ahead with it anyway even if we don’t get the grant money from the CBT.”
Mayor Tassone adds it’s not only a benefit for the environment, but would eventually become a cost savings on electricity costs. If the funding is approved, a bigger project would go ahead with the annual savings, once corrected for costs, of roughly $26,000.
If the City doesn’t receive the $65,000 from the CBT a smaller project is planned. The City’s share either way is $11,000.
The project is through Solar Now who will also provide 50 per cent of the capitol costs up to a maximum of $25,000.