Thumbnail: SitelogIQ representatives proposed installing a solar array near Bess Maxwell Elementary School. | Image courtesy of SitelogIQ Del Norte education officials decided that waiting 15 to 17 years for substantive savings installing a solar array might bring wasn’t worth committing to a $5 million project even with a $1 million federal rebate. Reporting back from a March 20 meeting that included officials from the county, the airport and representatives from Pacific Power and SitelogIQ, Del Norte Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Harris said that the community’s utility stated that tying solar into its grid would be difficult. Meanwhile, quotes DNUSD had received from SitelogIQ were only for solar panels that would be installed at what is currently Del Norte High School’s arboretum near Bess Maxwell Elementary School, Harris told trustees. Battery backup wasn’t included and, according to two cost-savings scenarios Harris worked out with SitelogIQ Vice President of Development Eddie Jordan and DNUSD’s financial advisor, Jon Isom, of Isom Associates, the district would save $1,000 to $6,000 per year. “And then, after 16 years or so the savings would increase dramatically because the system was paid (for),” the superintendent told the Board of Trustees. “But that’s only $1,000 or $6,000 a year with no battery backup.” If the electricity goes out, DNUSD’s in-town schools would have no power, Harris said, and neither would Redwood School in Fort Dick or Mountain School in Gasquet. Generators would supply electricity to ‘O Me-nok Learning Center in Klamath and parts of Smith River School. About a year ago, the DNUSD Board of Trustees agreed to allow SitelogIQ to conduct an audit and identify projects that would make the district more energy efficient. At a March 27, 2025 meeting, Jordan told trustees that to obtain modernization funds from the state for future improvements, it would have to “look at putting solar, battery storage and EV charging stations on your campuses.” At a Jan. 22 workshop, SitelogIQ representatives proposed installing a solar array that would offset electricity usage at Bess Maxwell, Castle Rock Charter School, Two Trees Healthy Start Center and the Instructional Materials Center. Trustees didn’t reject the proposal entirely, but they balked at the $5 million price tag. On Thursday, Harris said that Isom told him that without the $1 million rebate, he wouldn’t recommend moving forward with SitelogIQ’s proposal. Isom also noted that interest rates are more than 6% and historically, school districts have only installed solar panels with rebates and if interest rates were low, according to Harris. “Then fast forward to the meeting on (March) 20, Pacific Power was talking about the problems they were going to run into with tying our solar into a battery that would run the substation,” the superintendent told the Board. “And not just our solar at that point, it would be solar from the airport, solar from us, solar from whoever down the Washington corridor and potentially down the Northcrest corridor and all the way over to 101. The statement was made by one of the Pacific Power representatives that they couldn’t do it for safety reasons, for equipment integration reasons, for a number of reasons.” SitelogIQ first approached the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors in September 2024, about a year after the Smith River Complex wildfires forced Pacific Power to de-energize its transmission line, cutting off electricity to roughly 12,000 customers. Using a combination of solar panels and battery backups, SitelogIQ’s microgrid proposal would keep the community's most vital services operating even if the rest of the county was without power. At that Sept. 24, 2024 meeting, District 3 Supervisor Chris Howard urged his colleagues to take SitelogIQ’s proposal seriously. Since the wildfire, he has been working with other county officials as well as the Border Coast Regional Airport Authority, Sutter Coast Hospital and DNUSD on the microgrid project. DNCOE-Board-Workshop-Energy-Efficiency-Sustainability-Program-1-21-26_1427124mkvu2rbper5fnesffvlrkfkaDownload Howard said he participated in the March 20, 2026 discussion with DNUSD, SitelogIQ and Pacific Power as did Border Coast Regional Airport Authority and Sutter Coast Hospital officials. On Monday, Howard told Redwood Voice Community News that, for him, the largest hurdle wasn’t the cost associated with the microgrid proposal, it was the ability to connect it with Pacific Power’s grid. Utility representatives stated they did not have the capacity or the technology to make that happen, Howard said. “That’s problematic because we’re not the only group or municipality or district in their service area that’s interested in doing something like this,” he said. “I don’t know when that comes along and until it does, right now, the project’s not feasible.” Though he said he’s still trying to work out a partnership with Pacific Power, Howard has his doubts about whether the utility really lacks the capacity to work with microgrids. “We did it in 2023,” he said, with the four-to-five 7-megawatt generators the utility used to restore electricity to Del Norte County during the wildfire. “It wasn’t solar power generation, it was actually diesel generators that were used to create microgrids. Four to five big units were brought into the community at six to seven localities.” Before the March 20 meeting, a PaciCorp spokesman Simon Gutierrez said the utility welcomes the opportunity to determine if any of its existing customer programs could meet some of the county’s needs. “For example, behind-the-meter solutions may offer a more practical and immediately available alternative,” Gutierrez said. “These options can continue operating even when the local distribution system is down. Due to our small footprint and limited customer base, the California Public Utilities Commission has not included PacifiCorp in these programs, including the Microgrid Incentive Program.” PacifiCorp has also been engaged with the Bonneville Power Administration and Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative to determine if connecting its two transmission systems together is feasible, Gutierrez told Redwood Voice on March 6. On Monday, Howard said he’s still working with the two utilities on the issue of providing a redundant source of electricity to Del Norte County. At Thursday’s DNUSD Board of Trustees meeting, Board President Charlaine Mazzei said she had been excited about the district taking part in a community project to increase Del Norte’s resiliency during an emergency. But she felt that the schools outside of Crescent City should have been included. “To me, the outlying schools have better sun than the in-town schools,” Mazzei said. “(SitelogIQ) did a really good sales job and so it was exciting, but for me the project has gotten much smaller, more narrow.” Harris said he would return to the Board if the federal rebates and potential cost savings were greater or if the interest rates were lower. Amber Tiedeken-Cron, Del Norte Teachers Association president thanked trustees for tapping the brakes, noting that a previous Board may have moved forward despite their concerns and the unanswered questions. Having inherited the solar panels and wind turbine former Crescent Elk Middle School science teacher Joe Gillespie installed near his classroom, Cron said she understands how difficult it is when they fail. “I know those things are expensive,” she said. “We were lucky, we got those on grants and it didn’t cost the district or our site any money, but when those things start to fail there’s the maintenance…I appreciate this Board talking it through and getting the information and making an informed decision.”