Maryland State law (Annotated Code of Maryland, Education Article, §5-312.1-School district energy policies) encourages school systems such as MCPS to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Montgomery County Climate Action Plan, released in June 2021, is a multi-year plan that includes many new requirements for construction, including electrification and restrictions on the use of natural gas. This project will provide funds to implement a variety of new capital projects to improve energy and utility use efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve resiliency, and align with other sustainability priorities for MCPS. An FY 2023 appropriation was approved to begin the evaluation of and provide funding for various sustainability features including: upgrades to automated building automation systems, building retrofits to improve energy efficiency, solar panel installations, renovating greenhouses, and support towards integrating sustainability features into academics. Due to fiscal constraints the amended FY23-FY28 CIP reflects a reduction in approved FY24 expenditures from $7.5 million to $5.0 million. The County Council approved additional expenditures in the outyears of the 2025-2030 CIP to reflect a level of effort funding. An FY 2025 appropriation was approved to continue this project and fund various sustainability features at schools and also focus on photovoltaic installations to align with the county's climate action goals. As MCPS analyzes its holistic sustainability initiatives approach throughout the school system, the Board's FY 2026 Request and County Council action was to reallocate $5 million to other projects. This reallocation will not impact current initiatives. An FY 2027 appropriation is being requested for this level of effort project.

FY24 supplemental for $151,003 in State Aid.
FY26 funding switch between State Aid and GO Bonds to reflect rebate incentives received for $705,403 from the EmPOWER Maryland program.

Expenditures will continue indefinitely. MCPS asserts that this project conforms to the requirement of relevant local plans, as required by the Maryland Economic Growth, Resource Protection and Planning Act.

FY 2027 -- Salaries and Wages: $100K, Fringe Benefits: $46K, Workyears 1, FY 2028-2032: Salaries and Wages: $525K, Fringe Benefits: $245K, Workyears 5