Case Study: Jonesboro Elementary School

Jonesboro Elementary School Superintendent Kevin Westall described the school’s ability to claim federal tax credits for their solar project as a “gamechanger.” When the school district first considered the installation of a 300kw solar array on the school grounds, it was pursuing a third-party ownership model because the federal Renewable Energy Investment Tax Credit was not available to tax-exempt entities like public school districts. With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, a new mechanism called Elective Pay was created, enabling tax-exempt entities like school districts, local governments, nonprofits, and others to claim certain federal tax credits for the first time. This opened the door for Jonesboro Elementary School to own the system and get reimbursed for a portion of the project costs.

The project cost Jonesboro Elementary School about $982,000 and, after filing a tax return and making use of Elective Pay, the district received a check from the IRS for roughly $393,000. Combining this reimbursement with state incentives available from the Illinois Power Agency and with utility incentives, Jonesboro Elementary School has received more than $500,000 to date. In other words, the school has received reimbursements totaling more than half their project costs in the year since turning on the system, which Mr. Westall said made pursuing the project “a no brainer.”

Moreover, Mr. Westall reports significant savings on the school’s electricity bills. While the system was anticipated to save between $55,000 and $60,000 per year in electricity costs, it had already saved about $39,000 in just the first six months of operation, most of which were winter months. He now sees monthly savings ranging between $2,600 and $6,500.