Montpelier weighs faster payoff on money-losing solar financing

From the Montpelier Common Council meeting on 2026-09-15

Brad Neff said Tuesday that Montpelier's solar-panel financing is still losing money, and he asked whether the city should accelerate payoff to save about $64,000 in interest.

Neff said the project was sold to the city as a break-even deal, but the numbers on the record now look different. He said a $120,000 grant or tax-abatement-related reduction lowered the principal to roughly $362,000 to $369,000, while annual debt service stayed near $44,000 and annual savings or credit revenue came in at only about $13,000 to $13,500.

According to Neff, the city's banker asked whether Montpelier wanted to keep the current amortization schedule or pay the debt down faster. He said the quicker option would retire the debt by June 1, 2037, while the slower schedule would run until June 1, 2043.

Neff also said lawyers and financial advisers told him a legal challenge over the vendor's guarantees could cost at least $100,000 with no certainty of success.

Source: Meeting transcript — Montpelier Common Council Meeting September 15, 2026

Some information may be inaccurate due to video audio quality.