Camanche considers a switch to solar energy

The City of Camanche will hold a public hearing for zoning changes later this month. It’ll gauge what people think about implementing changes to agricultural and industrial zones in Camanche.

The zones would be converted to a renewable energy overlay district. In order to have projects happen in certain areas, it has to fall under a certain kind of zoning ordinance. (For example, zoning can include residential, agricultural, and heavily industrial.)

Each zoning ordinance has restrictions as to what can happen in those zones. That’s why the public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Jan.16 at Camanche City Hall, 818 7th Ave.

If the council approves it, that will essentially give the green light for solar panels to be used.

“All of the people who are signed up for this project, the land owners have done so voluntarily,” said Camanche City Administrator Andrew Kida.  

Kida said that switching the current zones to renewable energy zones will save the city money in the long run, because NextEra Energy will pay for the project, which is called the Rock Creek Solar Project.

“Things are growing here in this area, rapidly,” said Kida. “For us, in these locations, it would require a large infrastructure investment from the city in order to be able to make that land usable for industrial purposes.”

He also said that only about a third of the zone will get used for solar if approved. He hopes this project encourages more businesses to come to the city as well.

“Having that here puts us on the map for some of those industries to say they’ll consider Camanche or Clinton or Clinton County to say we’ll go ahead and build an industrial plant there,” he said.

The local school district also can see a big bonus from this solar project.

“The school district, they’re estimating about $140,000 a year more in revenue,” said Kida.

This project also can help the city issue bonds. Kida says the city recently went out for a bond rating from Standard & Poor’s. One of the areas lacking was its environmental score.

“We don’t really have renewable energy functions in the city,” said Kida. “This process here will enable us to get a better bond rating. We become a much more attractive borrower to other lenders out there. The higher our credit rating, the better rates we get.”

Plans for the project would still need to be developed in the next few years.

For more information about the project, click here. For more information on the project creators, click here.