Daley's Plan to Green the City Lost Chicago A Lot of Green

By Samantha Abernethy in News on Oct 11, 2011 10:15PM

One of Mayor Richard Daley's many green initiatives was a $5 million deal to save millions on electric bills by installing solar panels on city buildings. But a joint investigation by the Better Government Association and CBS2 reveals the financial losses the city has incurred since this deal went through.

The deal included a $1.7 million interest-free loan the city gave Solargenics. It paid back $340,000, but then negotiated an agreement to pay the remaining $1.3 million by giving the city 1,000 more solar panels.

A city warehouse now stores 465 of them, worth about $700,000.

There's been a lot of talk of Daley's green legacy for the city. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has vowed to continue Daley's plans to make city buildings greener. But this is the second story we're seeing today (See: Energy-saving lights) that involves a plan to save money on energy that winds up costing the city more money than it's worth. Perhaps the city needs to vet these decisions further before they jump at every green initiative thrown their way. Like we've said before, can the city stay green with no green?