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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Biochar

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Although wildfires are a healthy part of many ecosystems in the Intermountain West, the risk from catastrophic wildfires continues to increase in communities like Park City. Years of fire suppression, coupled with a hotter and drier climate and the continued development of subdivisions close to forestlands, presents the difficult challenge of trying to protect communities while also managing fire in a way that does not exacerbate climate change.

In 2019, Park City was among eight communities to recently receive a Leader in Community Resilience Program award from the National League of Cities (NLC). The award will support the city’s work in developing a biochar program to reduce excess forest fire fuels such as brush and wood debris, and return that carbon to Park City's soils.

Biochar is a charcoal-like material that can be used in carbon sequestration efforts. It is made by burning the excess forest fuels in an oxygen-free environment. Biochar is rich in carbon and in this case, will be collected from defensible spaces, that is the natural or landscaped area around a structure that is maintained and designed to reduce fire danger. Park City held a public demonstration in May 2019 to teach the public about how biochar is made, where it can be used on the landscape, and how it can reduce fire danger locally.

The forests surrounding most structures in the community contain a lot of poor-quality lumber that has the potential to be turned into biochar. This biochar, in turn, can be applied to farm fields and open spaces.

Get in touch to learn more!