Harrisonburg City Council approved rezoning that would allow EMU to go forward with plans to install solar power cells that could provide up to 20 percent of EMU’s power among other actions Tuesday night.
The rezoning clears the way for EMU with council, though they are still negotiating with the Harrisonburg Electric Commission about some technical aspects. The project is funded by a state grant and would ultimately provide up to one megawatt of power.
EMU President Loren Swartzendruber said that this project was exciting and consistent with EMU’s long-standing record toward sustainability on campus.
The project has been updated from the original scale. EMU and Secure Futures LLC are now planning a 953 kW project (nearly 1 megaWatt), with projected savings to EMU of $4 million over 25 years, offsetting about 20% percent of EMU’s electricity consumption.
The project will be installed on three sites: Hartzler Library roof, on the parking lot on the north side of University Commons, and to-be-developed green parking lot off Parkwood Road next to Eastern Mennonite School.