LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Lakeport Unified School District is expected to cut its annual electric bill by 33 percent and save more than $2 million over the next two decades thanks to a new solar project.

Lakeport Unified has entered into an agreement with SolarCity to power three schools and the district office with renewable energy.

The district paid nothing up front under its 20-year power purchase agreement with SolarCity, a leading provider of clean energy that will install more than 2,400 solar panels totaling 582 kilowatts of solar power at the four district facilities.

Lakeport Elementary School, Terrace Middle School, Clear Lake High School and the district office will all receive solar panel installations as a result of interest in the project first expressed by LUSD Board of Education member Wally Cox, and carried forward by LUSD Director of Maintenance Operations and Transportation David Norris, who first met with SolarCity in fall 2012.

The solar systems are expected to save the district roughly $60,000 in their first year alone, and reduce the district’s carbon emissions by nearly 17 million pounds over the 20-year contract term, which is tantamount to planting 729,000 trees.

“We are thrilled to have an innovative way to immediately save the district money and reduce our operating costs for the long term,” said District Superintendent Erin Smith-Hagberg. “The solar savings will allow us to redirect monies previously spent on utilities back to programs that directly affect students.”

SolarCity will guarantee the amount of power the carport and ground-mount systems will produce, maintain the systems and provide any necessary repairs at no additional cost.

The company also offers real-time monitoring of the solar systems that students and faculty can view online at www.solarcity.com to see their schools’ solar electricity generation and their energy use on a daily, weekly or yearly basis.

“As another school year begins, California continues to demonstrate its leadership in the global shift to clean, renewable energy that simultaneously moves our educational expenditures to where they’re needed the most,” said Dennis Cox, SolarCity’s regional vice president. “Solar saves the district money that can be used on enhancing student services, and it also provides a teaching tool.”