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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 13, 2018 Page 15 vestment in the solar garden and the second piece is the return on that investment through this process. Councilmember McGehee stated this is the first time a solar proposal has been brought forward where there is not a significant risk to the City. The City does not have the responsibility for the solar panels. She agreed there is a desire to go forward with the GreenStep Cities steps and make a commitment as a City to this type of solar garden. From that standpoint, she was happy with this proposal. Councilmember McGehee agreed with Mayor Roe that this is not a savings. She was also happy with starting out small and wondered how the developer and de- veloper's partner make their money in this process. She stated she understood the tax credits in doing this and wondered if that was all the developer was interested in. Mr. Kampmeyer stated tax credits and depreciation takes care of about 55% of the project. The balance is a small fee imposed on an annual basis from the energy produced. They make approximately five to six percent, which is typical. Councilmember Laliberte agreed with Councilmember McGehee but wondered if there was anything that was time sensitive regarding this. Mr. Kampmeyer stated they have many more subscriptions than they can current- ly fill and there is great interest from school districts, counties, and cities across the Twin Cities. He explained this is time sensitive and the program tax credits will begin to fall in 2020 so they are not sure what kind of development will occur after that. In addition, Xcel Energy is reportedly 884 Megawatts under develop- ment or being developed and will likely reach their capacity for renewable energy credits required for State mandates. Also, the system itself may not be able to handle much more than that given the amount of development. Mr. Kampmeyer stated for perspective, in 2012 there was fifteen to twenty meg- awatts of solar in the State and now they are approaching almost 900 megawatts. There has been rapid development over that time period. Councilmember Laliberte stated even though it is time sensitive, all of the entities mentioned move as slowly as the City does. She asked what has the Public Works, Environment&Transportation Commission recommended on this. Mr. Culver stated they presented the same information to the City Council in May. They are more interested in pursuing some of the on-campus solar options and did not make a formal recommendation to go forward with the community so- lar garden. He stated they understood some of the value in doing that as a short- term measure and indicated they did not oppose it.