Speech and Testimony
County Executive Leggett’s Remarks at the Energy Independence Press Event
Montgomery County Correctional Facility
22880 Whelan Lane, Boyds
Good morning!
Yesterday we celebrated our nation’s Independence with fireworks, music, and family fun at events across Montgomery County. Today, we’re celebrating the significant progress we have made toward energy independence in our County.
How are we achieving energy independence? By generating clean, local, and renewable energy on County facilities.
In October 2015, it was my pleasure to announce the County’s commitment to install enough solar panels on County facilities to generate six megawatts of solar power. As of today, we’ve installed solar projects at 15 buildings throughout the County.
Through the commitment and dedication of our Department of General Services, and the other Departments such as the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation working in partnership with them, we have additional projects in the works that will more than double the amount of solar currently generated at Montgomery County buildings.
It’s enough electricity to power more than a thousand single-family homes.
That’s an enormous amount of clean energy and an impressive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
And it represents one of the many ways Montgomery County is committed to leadership in reducing emissions and helping our nation meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Solar on County facilities has enormous economic benefits as well.
Thanks to a public-private partnership, we are able to add solar to our public facilities at no upfront cost to the County.
In fact, we are saving money on electricity. We’re expected to save $15 million in electric bills over the next 20 years.
There are other benefits too. Installing all these solar panels creates jobs in our County. The Solar Foundation reports that Montgomery County has the most solar jobs in Maryland.
Today, I am proud to throw the switch on our largest solar project to date, here at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.
With these solar projects, we’re not only generating clean power, we’re also taking stress off the grid during extreme weather conditions, which benefits the whole region.
We also have plans to make this facility even more independent from the power grid.
Over the next year and a half we will be implementing “micro-grid” projects here and at our Public Safety Headquarters in Gaithersburg.
These micro-grids will use a combination of onsite solar power and efficient generators to supply all the power needed for these facilities.
That means Montgomery County’s critical public safety services can operate without interruption even during major storms or disasters. This is truly a remarkable endeavor.
Together we are making Montgomery County an even safer, cleaner, and more eco-friendly community.
Thank You!
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Release ID: 17-074July 5, 2017; 10 a.m.