FORT SCOTT, Kan. - A Chanute-based solar company pitched the Fort Scott City Commission on installing rooftop solar and battery systems at five city-owned buildings during an Aug. 18 meeting, a roughly $1 million proposal commissioners agreed to keep exploring but declined, for now, to commit to.
"We install primarily commercial and industrial rooftop systems, including several here in Fort Scott," Daniel Zywietz, owner of SEK Solar, told commissioners, pointing to the company's largest local project, the Sekan Printing facility on South Main, and a recently awarded contract at the Humboldt water plant.
"We ended up finding five properties where I believe solar has an economic benefit for the city of Fort Scott and where physically it can be implemented," Zywietz said of the five sites that emerged from a broader assessment of 10 city-owned properties, an effort he began after mentioning the idea to Rachel Carpenter, the city's Director of Human Resources and Community Development, who connected him with City Manager Brad Matkin. He said the other five properties, including the wastewater plant and a river pumping station, were ruled out over tariff structures or lack of space.
"The investment in total would be if all sides were to go through is just under a million dollars," Zywietz said, adding that federal tax credits would cover roughly 40% of that through a "direct pay" mechanism that functions like a grant since cities don't owe federal income tax. He put the city's net cost near $600,000 against roughly $60,000 in first-year savings, with rising Evergy rates potentially shrinking the payback period to seven to nine years.