May 6, 2008

Clouds part for school's solar plan

Agency intervenes to make sure panels are approved before Hillsdale graduation

By Will Oremus / Daily News Staff Writer

The seniors in Hillsdale High School's solar energy club will have their day in the sun after all.

Once mired in a state approval process that looked like it could drag on well past graduation day, their ambitious project to bring solar power to their campus was suddenly expedited last week by officials from the Division of the State Architect, or DSA.

Now the students are gearing up for the installation of eight roof-mounted panels on May 14, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony the next day.

The state agency's intervention came after the Daily News ran a story shining a light on the approval process, which had threatened to delay the much-anticipated project until the seniors were long gone.

The article, in which teachers and students voiced frustration at what seemed a faceless bureaucracy, was published April 27. At that time, a month after contractor Owens Electric & Solar had submitted its application, the club was having trouble even getting confirmation that the materials had been received.

"By Monday morning, we had calls from three different people saying, 'What can we do to help?' " said Hillsdale teacher Dave Emanuel. That same day, DSA officials arranged a meeting with contractor Owens Electric & Solar to go over the application.

With an assist from a San Mateo Union High School District official who has construction expertise, the agency granted a waiver approving the application by the end of the week.

For students in the solar club, the DSA's quick response turned what was shaping up to be a crash course on government red tape into an object lesson in the power of publicity.

"I told them, 'This is what the press is supposed to do,'" Emanuel said. Still, he added, "I'm kind of amazed it happened that quickly."

Eric Lamoureux, spokesman for the DSA, said his agency strives to process solar panel applications as efficiently as possible given its large workload. In this case, he said, the process was slowed because the contractor's initial application was incomplete.

Once the situation came to the agency's attention, Lamoureux said, it acted immediately.

"Especially in a situation like this, where you've got kids who are trying to do the right thing, we want to see it move forward," Lamoureux said.



E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.