The Dixon School Board has unanimously approved a solar contract that’s expected to save the district roughly $500,000 over seven years in energy costs.

Under the agreement approved Wednesday, Nov. 19, with solar development firm Solar One, the district will purchase the power at a fixed rate of 3.6 cents per kilowatt hour for seven years. Dixon Public Schools Business Manager Marc Campbell said that’s less than what it currently pays ComEd at a rate of 4.38 cents per kilowatt hour plus a distribution fee on each kilowatt.

“There is an immediate savings on the supply that it provides in the future. The board has continued to express interest in wanting a solar deal. This appears to be, in our opinion, one of the good ones that we can kind of stand on,” Campbell said.

[ Dixon school board may sign onto solar plan to save energy costs ]

In late 2022, the district moved forward on a solar project with Chicago-based energy company Econergy that estimated about $2 million in energy cost savings over 25 years. Based on the lack of progress on the project, school board members voted to terminate those contracts in April 2025, but said they’d still like to pursue solar options.

“We’re moving on and we’re moving forward. We’re looking to the future,” Campbell said.

The contract is a 15-year commitment to operate the system, which has a life of 30 years. At the end of the first seven years, the district can either choose to extend its fixed rate for another eight years or buy the equipment at a fair market value with the option to pay for it at 0% interest over 10 years, according to the agreement.

Solar One Lead Industrial Developer Shawn Stonesifer, who’s a 1998 Dixon High School graduate, said it’s estimated to save the district $82,000 in the first year, about $70,000 each of the following six years and about $100,000 to $120,000 a year for eight years after that if the district purchases the system.

Those estimates are calculated using the district’s past energy bills, with a 1.26% annual rate increase to account for inflation, Stonesifer said.

Campbell said the only concern he has about the project with Solar One is how fast the district needs to move on its decision.

“The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ has made significant changes in the industry. The biggest being timeline and expiration of credits and incentives,” Campbell said.

President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” was signed into law in July. It includes large tax cuts in multiple areas, along with shifting the federal focus from clean energy to expanding domestic oil and gas production, according to whitehouse.gov.

In 2022 and 2023, “everybody rushed to the table. There’s lots and lots of solar developers all of a sudden,” Stonesifer said.

During those years, under former President Joe Biden’s administration, state and federal governments signed legislation like the federal Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 that provided tax credits and other incentives to clean energy projects.

“The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ put an end to some of those subsidies, so there’s a lot of urgency to get this knocked out now,” Stonesifer said.

Starting at the end of December, solar projects will have to be compliant with new requirements that will increase the cost of purchasing rates, Stonesifer said.

“We have this nice little window here where we can get a project that’s going to save the district a lot of money over a long period of time,” Stonesifer said.

Campbell reminded the board that, based on the length of the contract, it will most likely be passed along to a new group of board members and district administrators.

“We need to make sure that we understand that that’s a serious thing to do,” Campbell said.

“I think it’s got to be done for financial reasons and environmental reasons,” Board President Linda Wegner said.

Stonesifer said the next steps are for Solar One to purchase the equipment before the new rules kick in and complete final engineering and design plans.

As of now, the plan is for panels to be installed on the roof of DHS and Washington Elementary and in the field behind Jefferson Elementary and Reagan Middle School. Building is expected to start in late summer 2026, Stonesifer said.