Proposal to call for full solar power at city airport
When the City Council votes Wednesday on a plan for a new terminal building and other improvements at the Santa Fe Municipal Airport, one councilor will ask to include a requirement that the facility be 100 percent powered by solar energy.
At the request of a Santa Febased clean energy advocacy group, City Councilor Joseph Maestas drafted a proposed amendment to the airport’s longterm master plan to “include solar power technology in all airport facilities consistent with city policy.”
The council earlier this year approved a resolution calling for all new city buildings to be solar powered and for existing facilities to be retrofitted for renewable energy.
Maestas said he does not foresee any major opposition to his airport amendment.
The airport master plan, which has been in the works since 2014, includes about $30 million in proposed improvements to the facility over the next decade, including construction of a terminal building. Some of the money to fund the improvements could come from a proposed $4.50 passenger facility fee on commercial tickets.
Pushing for the solar energy requirement is the nonprofit New Energy Economy, which on Tuesday morning began a petition campaign for a solarpowered airport.
In a letter to the council, New Energy Economy executive director Mariel Nanasi wrote:
“The airport represents a huge opportunity to showcase the benefits of solar and our city’s leadership in the renewable energy transition and green economy to thousands of visitors from around the world who will be flying in from above every year — and could have their first impression of our fine city marked by a beautiful array of solar panels covering the parking lot.”
Cameron Humphres, city aviation director, said that even though there is no mention of solar energy in the proposed airport master plan, there is nothing preventing the council from adding a solar requirement.
“It’s vitally important to consider renewable energy for every building,” he said.
Humphres said there is a solar array on the airport grounds that supplies power to the nearby city wastewater treatment plant. Maestas said he directed city staff this week to look into using power from the solar array for a state National Guard facility near the airport on land leased from the city.
The city contracted with the Molzen Corbin engineering firm and Coffman Associates — a consulting firm specializing in airport planning — to draft the master plan.