The Court International Building in St. Paul hosts the largest solar array in the city. (Photo credit: IPS Solar via Midwest Energy News)
Communities are taking a more holistic approach to transit planning that’s going beyond housing and transportation. In the Twin Cities, energy and sustainability could play an enhanced role in the region’s transit-oriented development plans and policies.
Along the Green Line — a light rail line connecting downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul — four buildings are collecting solar energy that could potentially help reduce the cost and need for electrical infrastructure along light rail lines. Funded by a $1.8 million grant from Xcel’s Renewable Development Fund, the rooftop solar panels are generating one megawatt of energy, roughly the equivalent of 7 percent of the Green Line’s electric usage.
Through a third-party ownership model, the solar project is producing cleaner energy while also creating savings for the building owners. WGL Energy, the energy developer, leases the rooftop space and then sells the energy back to building owners at a discounted rate, saving as much as 20 percent on electricity bills.
By creating a distributed energy system along transit lines, communities can further encourage TOD while also becoming more resilient to power outages. After Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey Transit initiated a plan to construct an “electrical microgrid capable of supplying highly reliable power during storms or other times when the centralized power grid is compromised.” The developers of the Peña Station Next project in Denver, covered in a previous TODresources.org newsletter, are also working to create Colorado’s first microgrid and zero energy campus, and potentially set a standard for the next generation of TOD.
Recent TOD news
Here are a few things that have been happening this week with TOD projects across the country.
- Atlanta’s Beltline struggles with affordability issues (Curbed)
- Public seeks to guide development near transit in Buffalo (Buffalo News)
- Durham, NC commissioners consider adding new light rail stop downtown (Indy Week)
- Master developer search delayed for 30th Street Station on Amazon hopes (Curbed Philadelphia)