Power Struggles

The Register-Star reports today that Mayor William Hallenbeck has announced a change in the City's source of energy: "Mayor: City changing energy plans." Previously, also on the mayor's initiative, the City has been powered exclusively by wind energy, purchased from Virdian Energy, a company for whom former Assembly member Pat Manning is an independent associate. Now the mayor wants a mix of renewable energy sources, including solar panels to be installed on the Central Fire Station, as well as on other city buildings. 

Solar panels on the Central Fire Station is not a new idea. Back in January 2013, the Common Council heard a presentation from local solar energy company Lotus Energy for doing just that. That proposal, which had been the initiative of Victor Mendolia, got bogged down with questions of whether or not the City could put solar panels on a building it doesn't own (the Central Fire Station is leased from Community Initiatives Development Corporation, which built it in 2005) and sank completely when Mendolia announced his intention to run for mayor. Now it's back, but this time, according to the mayor's plan, the solar panels would be installed by Viridian.
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