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Solar Panels Power Worship in Park City

Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church / Rocky Mountain Power
Solar panels on a new addition to Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Park City, UT

  Three houses of worship in the Park City area are among 22 facilities with new solar power installations funded by Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky program.

The Blue Sky program allows customers to pay extra on their power bills to support the development of renewable energy projects.

From that money, Rocky Mountain Power provided 35-thousand dollar grants to St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Shepherd of the Mountains Lutheran Church and Reform synagogue Temple Har Shalom.

Lynn Suksdorf, the executive director of TempleHarShalom, says their 36 solar panels have provided about nine percent of their electricity since they were installed in March.

“We’ve offset more than four thousand pounds in energy consumption," Suksdorf tells KUER. "We are proud to be part of that program and improve the environment.”

At Shepherd of the Mountains, fifty solar panels were put up on a brand-new addition to the church.  Tim Fehr, who led the project, says members of his church are excited about the system, and they hope to expand it.

“They have encouraged me to apply for a second grant," Fehr says, "which we’ll do because we only put the solar panels on one of the new wings, but we put all the provisions in for the other wing, so we’ll be pursuing that.”

Temple Har Shalom also wants another grant, but it may be a while before new funding is available.  Jeff Hymas with Rocky Mountain Power says there’s a high demand for Blue Sky money, and those who’ve received grants in the past will have to wait at least three years to get another.

 

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