Likely Toledo mayoral candidate Keith Wilkowski yesterday proposed putting a $5 million solar panel field atop the Dura Avenue Landfill that could generate electricity for the city while further energizing northwest Ohio's burgeoning solar energy industry.
Mr. Wilkowski was joined by City Councilman Joe McNamara, who said he would submit a request today to Mayor Carty Finkbeiner's administration for an initial $1 million allocation for the project in the city's 2009 capital improvement budget.
With $1 million buying about one acre's worth of solar panels, the full five-acre, $5
million field could be financed and built in pieces, said Mr. Wilkowski, who is a lawyer.
Councilman McNamara said this solar project needs to move forward despite the looming general fund operating budget deficit, which might reach $7 million this year at current spending levels.
He said the electricity produced by the solar panels ultimately could save the city money, although it's unclear how much. 'It's projects like this that actually have a
payoff to the taxpayer and create jobs that are important,' Mr. McNamara said.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080922/NEWS16/809220262
...$44642.86 per home.
With a $150.00 per month electric bill, that would work out to over 277 months worth of electric bills.
So this might pay for itself after about 24 years.
Wilkowski, this is a stupid idea.
If ''CON' is the opposite of 'PRO', does that mean Congress is the opposite of Progress?