Solar panels at Sandbrock Ranch Elementary have covered about $100,700 of their cost, Denton ISD's utility report shows

The solar array at Sandbrock Ranch Elementary, the Denton ISD campus in the Sandbrock Ranch neighborhood near Aubrey, has saved the district $100,707 in utility costs since it was installed, according to an annual utility report going to the school board Tuesday.

The report, prepared with TDIndustries for the board's 6 p.m. meeting Nov. 10, tracks three campuses with solar systems. The district lists the Sandbrock Ranch installation at $474,301 and its simple payback at 16.68 years, the shortest of the three.

The other two arrays:

| Campus | Installation | Cost avoided so far | Simple payback | |---|---|---|---| | Union Park Elementary | $565,257 | $125,251 | 19.91 years | | Sandbrock Ranch Elementary | $474,301 | $100,707 | 16.68 years | | Nette Shultz Elementary | $321,576 | $62,143 | 19.62 years |

District utility costs down 2%

Across all of its buildings, Denton ISD spent $11,580,984 on utilities from July 2025 through June 2026, about $236,000 less than the year before. Electricity, the largest share, rose 0.5% to $8.46 million. Water accounted for most of the savings: irrigation costs fell 28.3%, to about $372,000, and potable water, sewer and storm drainage costs fell 13.2%, to about $1.04 million.

Gas dipped 2% and waste and recycling rose 4%, to about $1.01 million.

The board summary says the operations staff continues to manage building schedules through a building automation system covering more than 10,000 pieces of heating and cooling equipment and about 6,000 irrigation zones, and that managing those schedules helps hold down costs.

Sandbrock Ranch Elementary gets electricity from CoServ, gas from Atmos and water from Mustang Special Utility District, and its trash service is listed under the City of Aubrey, according to the report's provider table. The district's most recent previous energy audit was in March.

Sources

meetings.boardbook.org

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