As solar energy gains traction across the country, one beneficiary have been schools, particularly those in cash-strapped districts contending with dwindling tax bases.
The savings in electric bills from schools with solar panels often topped millions in each district, and many have been able to adopt the technology without shouldering any costs up front.
— The New York Times
According to White House statistics, energy costs rank second to only teachers' salaries on a list of the largest expenses the approximately 130,000 public schools across the country are faced with annually. Their emissions are equivalent to the CO2 output of about 16 coal-fired power plants, making K-12 solar upgrades one of the more salient provisions included in the recent Federal Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Acts.
Some districts that have already installed solar panels are seeing immediate savings as a result of the rising energy costs related to inflation and the war in Ukraine. At least 30 states have some of the basic framework that allows for the third-party ownership agreements often necessary for their installations to be enacted. Advocates say it isn’t nearly enough, but the 8,400 schools that do have solar installations offer a dramatic tri-fold increase when compared to statistics from 2014.
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