10.4. Sustainability Ethics as Part of Solar Projects

On-screen text: Welcome to our virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony. As of October 2020, Lightsource bp’s Nittany 1, 2 and 3 solar farms are generating renewable energy for all Penn State Campuses.

Eric Barron: Greetings! Last September Penn State and Lightsource bp celebrated the groundbreaking for a 70-megawatt solar project in Franklin county that would provide twenty-five of the University's total purchased electricity over twenty-five years. One year and one month later it's my pleasure to share that the project is complete, and Penn State is purchasing this renewable energy through a power purchase agreement. This is a bright and proud moment for Penn State and reminiscent of a day in April 2018 when I loaded the last shovel full of coal into the University power plant Penn State's commitment to renewable energy helps us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs but the value of successfully completing projects like these extends far greater than achieving these two goals. Through these efforts from planning to implementation and beyond our students are granted first-hand, once in a lifetime access to innovative learning and research opportunities related to the expanding renewable energy industry. These living lab experiences prepare students for new career possibilities and a brighter future for all of us. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make this possible.

Kevin Smith: Hi, my name is Kevin Smith, I’m CEO of the Americas for Lightsource bp. Lightsource bp is a large-scale solar energy development company with activities around the world. As CEO of the Americas, I head up our US activities developing, investing, and building large-scale solar projects here across the US. I want to take a moment really to congratulate the Lightsource bp team and the Penn State University teams for really a terrific project here that's now completed construction and has started to generate a clean and cost-effective energy for Penn State University and the 100,000 students that they have across Pennsylvania. This is really a great example of what we would call responsible solar energy, so not only does it have cost-competitive energy, clean energy, created jobs during the construction period, and continued investment in the community through our expenditures on maintenance activities on the facility as we move forward. But it also provided uh some other community benefits um you know one of which is diversification of revenue streams to some of the farming community. So, some of the farmers that participate in the project um now have a long-term, safe, solar solar energy generated revenue stream to pair with their farming activities as well so provides them with that additional benefit of nice secure long-term revenue streams. In addition, we really looked at how to harmonize this project with nature in the area and with the farming community. That included the creation of habitats for wildlife and included a pollinator program with a custom seed mix to make sure we're developing the proper wildflowers in the area to help with pollination activities and in addition, we're going to be doing sheep grazing on one of the sites that we have here in the project you know. This work really came out of the shared goals that we have with Penn State University, they were very specific in their requirements for a project that they were going to be buying electricity from, and fortunately, this was really a core principle for Lightsource bp and our projects around the world is to develop these kinds of activities. It's been a great experience with Penn State University Meghan and Rob and President Barron and the whole team have been really wonderful to work with, really drove the requirements for the project and we look forward to continuing that relationship for decades to come. We have a number of interns that have been working with the company and we expect that will continue as we move forward -- looking at special projects not only for us but also for the University as they now have this large-scale facility at their doorstep where they can do investigations on all kinds of activities. Not only pollinator programs but also battery storage potential and other things. So anyway, we really look at this as a model project for us, and as does Penn State and we look to implement a lot of the things we learned on this project on our projects across the US. So, once again congratulations to the Penn State team and to the Lightsource bp team we look forward to a long and exciting relationship with Penn State as this project continues to go forward and generate electricity into the system. Thank you very much.

Rob Cooper: Hi, my name is Rob Cooper, I am the senior director of energy and engineering for the office of physical plant at Penn State. Since they began looking into solar years ago and have since learned so much about the value of renewables through our participation in this project. We have learned that utility-scale solar located in Pennsylvania can provide cost savings when compared to fossil fuel and nuclear power generation sources. We have learned that renewable projects can create jobs and generate supplemental income for farmers. We have learned that carefully designed and constructed solar projects can also improve local habitat and biodiversity and we have learned that these types of projects provide a valuable educational opportunity for Penn State students through research potential and student internships. Moving forward this experience will guide Penn State as we evaluate future opportunities to continue to lower our carbon emissions and make Penn State more sustainable.

Emilie Wangerman: Hi, my name is Emilie Wangerman and I lead Lightsource bp's business development organization. So, I have had the pleasure of working with Penn State throughout this whole process. I started with selecting the projects which we would submit into the RFP process which was well run and thoughtfully organized throughout the process. I really appreciated the questions that were asked and the focus on not only driving forward affordability for Penn State but also caring about the impact to the community and to the environment and the good news is that our projects were well paired to be selected and therefore move into negotiations which I did throughout the process with an amazing group of people at Penn State. Thanks to Rob and to Mike, both of you were a pleasure to work with, and then I had the opportunity to work with Meghan and others to really define what are the added benefits beyond the procurement process and that included things like internships and opportunities to engage in research. This is a great example of an RFP process that really can be a blueprint for other universities throughout the US and globally it's a great opportunity to find affordable clean energy and procure it in a way that you can ensure that you're getting a quality product. Overall, it was an exciting opportunity I look forward to the continued long-term partnership with Penn State, and overall, it's a great way to bring about a continued growth in the renewable energy market through a public and a private partnership. So congratulations to everybody this is an exciting time and I’m really proud that these projects are online and producing clean energy for Penn State.

David Dosker: Hello, my name is David Dosker and I’m the Lightsource bp project director for the Nittany one, two, and three solar sites. As the project director for Lightsource bp I’m responsible for the planning and construction of the Nittany sites. Over the last year and a half, it has been my honor to work with Meghan Hoskins and the Penn State team. Both Lightsource bp and I are proud of the relationships and the facilities that we have built together, we are excited that the Nittany sites will continue to provide benefit to Penn State the community and to the environment for years to come. Congratulations to Penn State and Lightsource bp as we start this amazing energy journey together.

Meghan Hoskins: Hello, I’m Meghan Hoskins at the Penn State sustainability institute. This solar project has been unique in many ways, but I'd like to give you a couple of quick examples of collaboration efforts among partners of the project that have made it really special. One of Penn State's priorities for the project was to share the story of how large-scale solar projects can be developed in a way that benefits the local community and environmental resources surrounding the project. We achieved this through a partnership with the association for the advancement of sustainability in higher education: where we produced a webinar that highlights the process that Penn State went through to involve partners like the nature conservancy and Lightsource bp to achieve our goals of responsible environmental stewardship. That webinar is accessible to anyone and we hope you'll go check it out. Another goal we had was to make the sites available not only to the humans in the neighborhood and at Penn State but also as habitat for local wildlife as a company who shares our goals of improving local ecology, Lightsource bp partnered with a local farmer who will graze sheep on one site and also planted a seed mix around and under the arrays that was recently designed by other partners to support not just sheep but also insects, a seed mix, appropriately named fuzz and buzz.

Mark Chambers: Hello, everyone Mark Chambers, senior construction manager for Lightsource bp. So, I’m back in the fieldwork until it started, over here at solar one. I have to say this has been a really interesting journey with everything that's going on, great people, meeting the Penn State faculty and students, very smart, really good questions but I have to say that one big thing is that with these interesting times is realizing the perseverance of what the team had to get it done. We have a great crew, finished, and provided three safe quality clean energy generation projects. These were the first for us with Penn State, hopefully not the last and see you at the next one in the meantime please be safe, take care, and go lions!

David Gray: thank you for joining us as we celebrate this important moment in Penn State's history. In January of 2019, I was genuinely enthusiastic to sign on behalf of the University, a solar-powered purchase agreement with Lightsource bp to build the largest solar array in Pennsylvania. Through this initiative, Penn State is doing good and doing well simultaneously. We're doing good things for future generations by reducing dangerous greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change we're doing well for the University by producing a positive return on investment that will yield millions of dollars in net present value savings for Penn State. At a time when we are facing so many great challenges, the beginning of this 25-year power purchase agreement offers a bright moment and a true reflection of the University's ability and commitment to not just grow but to succeed in a way that enhances the health and sustainability of the planet and future generations this project has involved countless Penn State students, faculty and staff along with industry professionals but its positive impact will reach all of us. When Penn State reduces its carbon emissions by utilizing more renewable and affordable energy, we all win! This is just one example of how Penn State prioritizes doing well while doing good and just one reason why I am so proud to be a Penn Stater. We are Penn State! And we are doing great things for the environment. Thank you!