Park City, Utah Designated “SolSmart Gold” for Advancing Solar Energy Growth

Post Date:11/26/2018 4:32 PM

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Celia Peterson
celia.peterson@parkcity.org
435.287.5624


Park City, Utah Designated “SolSmart Gold” for Advancing Solar Energy Growth

 

PARK CITY, UTAH (November 26, 2018) – Park City, Utah received a Gold designation from the national SolSmart program for making it faster, easier, and more affordable for homes and businesses to go solar.

This designation recognizes Park City for taking bold steps to encourage solar energy growth and remove obstacles for solar development. For companies looking to expand, a SolSmart Gold designation is a signal that Park City is “open for solar business.”

SolSmart, led by The Solar Foundation and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office. More than 200 cities, counties, and small towns have achieved SolSmart designation since the program launched in 2016. Park City is one of 91 SolSmart Gold designees. This is especially notable as Utah is a non-home rule state, which means that Park City is not allowed to set its own energy code. Only six communities in non-home rule states have achieved SolSmart Gold.

“We have a clear path to 100% renewables by adopting a mix of energy efficiency measures, working with our utility to build new renewables, and producing solar energy from our rooftops. We want to make it practical and economic for all Parkites to harvest their energy directly from the sun. To achieve SolSmart Gold, we have modified our code to encourage our residents to adopt rooftop solar.  We know that local renewables are of local economic benefit and provide clean, cheap energy for our community. This is our future and we are proud to receive this designation,” commented Mayor Andy Beerman.

As a SolSmart designee, Park City can help solar companies reduce the cost of installations and pass savings on to consumers. This allows even more local homes and businesses to obtain affordable, clean, and reliable electricity through solar. The actions Park City has taken will help encourage solar companies to do business in the area, driving economic development and creating local jobs.

To receive designation, cities and counties make changes to their local processes to reduce the time and money it takes to install a solar energy system. This includes evaluating local permitting processes, as well as planning and zoning procedures. SolSmart designees also develop innovations in areas such as market development and finance.

For example, Park City waives permitting fees and has a streamlined process to ensure that solar systems can be permitting within two business days.

SolSmart uses objective criteria to award communities points based on the actions they take to reduce barriers to solar energy development. Communities that take sufficient action are designated either gold, silver, or bronze.

As part of the SolSmart program, a team of national experts provides no-cost technical assistance to help communities achieve designation. All cities and counties are eligible to join the SolSmart program and receive this technical assistance. Interested communities can learn more at SolSmart.org.

 

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About Park City Municipal Corporation 
Park City Municipal Corporation is the government seat for Park City, Utah. A former silver mining town, Park City is now home to two world-class ski resorts and was the mountain host for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games. The town of 7,500 also hosts many special events, including the Sundance Film Festival and the Kimball Arts Festival. For more information, please visit www.parkcity.org.

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Regenerative agriculture

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Soils can potentially trap a large amount of carbon away from the atmosphere. One method of driving more carbon into soils is through regenerative agriculture.

For example, in the summer of 2018 Park City decided to initiate regenerative agriculture on the iconic piece of land at McPolin Barn. This piece of land had remained relatively undisturbed since it was set aside under easement in 1991. The lack of disturbance on the land led to the grasses that grow and die each year to thatch together, never properly decomposing into the soil.

In partnership with Bill White Farms, a local non-profit organization, cattle were reintroduced to the former dairy. Rather than allowing them to spread out and graze on their favorite species, the cattle were herded together which forced them to eat down the grasses and weeds indiscriminately. The disturbance by the cows hooves, as well as what comes out of their tail ends, helped to mix dead matter with the soil and facilitate the decomposition process. This accelerated decomposition is key in releasing nutrients, thus creating a healthy environment for microbiota to trap more carbon away from the atmosphere and build up the health of our soils. The healthy soils are also more able to retain water, and allow for better growth of native species instead of noxious weeds.