Fordham’s Rose Hill campus stands to receive half the power it needs through the sun, thanks to a new agreement the University signed this month.
The agreement, which goes into effect on Sept. 1, will send to the Bronx an additional 625,000 kilowatts of electricity annually from a large solar panel installation on Staten Island.
It’s the second agreement that Fordham has made to purchase electricity from the site. In 2019, the University signed a 20-year agreement to purchase 2.6 megawatts annually from the larger half of the site.
When combined with the electricity generated at installations such as a solar panel array atop the Rose Hill campus parking garage, the amount of electricity the campus gets from solar arrays when the sun is shining will be 3.7 megawatts. That’s enough electricity to satisfy half the power needs of the campus.
Marco Valera, vice president of administration, said agreements such as these are part of Fordham’s continuing efforts to address climate change.
He said that going forward, Fordham will consider adding solar panels to buildings anytime their roofs are due for renovation.
“We’ve been actively looking for other projects that are being developed inside New York City,” he said.
“Projects like this are good for the environment, and we foresee a significant increase in electric rates going forward. So we also expect financial savings as well.”
