Highland Park, Illinois – The City of Highland Park (the City) is proactively working to reduce energy costs for homes and businesses by promoting solar energy development and energy use. Over the next six months, Highland Park, along with eleven other municipalities in the Chicago region, will participate in SolSmart, a rigorous national designation program recognizing communities for making it faster, easier, and more cost efficient to install and enjoy the benefits of solar energy.
The SolSmart program will help the City streamline permitting and implement measures to encourage solar development. By participating in the program, the City will receive recommendations on how to adapt zoning codes to remove potential barriers. All participants in the program will work collaboratively with partners such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134 and the Illinois Fire Inspector Association to train staff to evaluate and inspect solar PV installations. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus will serve as program advisor to each government. Those that successfully meet the criteria will be awarded a designation of Gold, Silver or Bronze at a ceremony in early 2018.
“Our community is proactive about sustainability initiatives and works to reduce our impact on our fragile planet,” said Mayor Nancy R. Rotering. “Energy consumption is one of the greatest contributors to climate change. As a City and as a nation, we must take this seriously. Our participation in the SolSmart program will help us encourage solar development in Highland Park and send a message that solar power works for government, residents, and businesses.”
“Highland Park’s leadership and commitment to renewable energy intersects with recent efforts in Illinois to lead in these areas, the most notable being the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act, which will bring over $100 million annually for solar development,” says Robert Nunamaker, Mayor of the Village Fox River Grove and Executive Board Chairman of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. “Participation in SolSmart better positions the City to take advantage of this investment and it marks the region as a friendly, cost-effective place to do business.”
The City signed the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’s Greenest Region Compact 2 in May, 2016 to guide and unify regional sustainability efforts. In addition to renewable energy, the Compact also expands opportunities for municipal leaders to take action in the areas of climate, economic development, energy efficiency, land use, leadership, mobility, greener municipal operations, sustainable communities, waste and water.
About the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus
The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus is a membership organization of the Chicago region’s 275 cities and villages. Founded in 1997 by then Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and leading mayors from nine suburban municipal groups, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus pushes past geographical boundaries and local interests to work on public policy issues. The Caucus provides a forum for metropolitan Chicago’s chief elected officials to collaborate on common problems and work toward a common goal of improving the quality of life for the millions of people who call the region home.
SolSmart
SolSmart is a national program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative and led by The Solar Foundation and the International City/County Management Association.