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City Building Closures Scale Back San Jose Solar Power Plans

SAN JOSE (KCBS) - An ambitious plan to convert more than two dozen city-owned buildings to solar power could be scaled back because the city plans to shutter most of the libraries and community centers where the solar panels would be installed.

Just five of the 28 buildings in the original financing deal with Solar City would receive the panels under a proposal to go before the city council Tuesday.

KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:

The cost savings proposal by Mayor Chuck Reed was seen as a significant step towards the city's goal of relying entirely on reusable energy.

The use of grant money to pay for installation would mean even greater savings for the city in the long run, said Kerrie Romanow, San Jose's acting environmental services director.

"It uses some federal grant and some other energy saving work that we've done here at the city, so it's a great opportunity to save the general fund money without having to invest general fund money to get there," she said.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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