Painesville is keeping its nearly $39 million battery-storage project on the rails, even as city leaders quietly yanked a short-term borrowing plan that was supposed to help pay for it. Officials told City Council this week that a mix of legal guidance and grant-reimbursement rules opened a different path, one that lets the work move ahead without immediately issuing a $9.5 million note.
The big battery bank is planned for the Richmond Road substation and is being pitched as a quicker, cheaper way for the city to respond when electricity demand suddenly spikes.
Council pulls borrowing ordinance but project stays on track
At the June 1 City Council meeting, an ordinance authorizing up to $9.5 million in short-term notes for the battery purchase showed up on the printed agenda but was marked “removed” and never came up for a vote, according to the city’s Action Taken agenda. City records indicate the borrowing item was pulled while staff and council worked through contract language and the timing of grant reimbursements.
That move leaves the equipment procurement and design work underway, but trims back the near-term debt step the administration originally floated.
Price tag and technical specs
Local coverage puts the full battery installation at just under $39 million, with city officials outlining a system sized to deliver about 20 megawatts of power for roughly four hours. That makes it an approximately 80 megawatt-hour resource when fully dispatched.
Cleveland.com reports those specs and notes that the project could qualify for federal tax credits and tap into energy-market revenue streams that help offset costs. Missing key manufacturing order slots, officials cautioned, could push equipment delivery into 2028.
Why the loan was paused
City memos and the city manager’s report lay out why the borrowing plan was put on ice. The battery project leans heavily on a federal Climate Pollution Reduction Grant that reimburses the city after it spends the money. Attorneys advised that parts of the contracts might be structured so the city would not have to lean on its own debt right away.
The manager’s report names Convergence as the installer and says the company set a June 15 deadline to place major equipment orders, including Tesla battery units, to stay inside the current manufacturing cycle. The short-term note had been designed as a cash-flow bridge, fronting money to meet contract milestones while the city waited for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant reimbursements.
How the battery will change operations
Officials say the new system is expected to deliver power almost instantly, an upgrade over Painesville’s current backup routines that can require significant staff setup, according to reporting on the project. Utility staff told Cleveland.com they expect the battery energy storage system to speed response times, trim operating costs, and open up new revenue by participating in programs that pay utilities for shaving demand during peak periods.
Where the money comes from
The battery and related solar components are part of a wider regional initiative bankrolled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant program. That program awarded roughly $129.4 million to a coalition led by Cuyahoga County that includes Painesville.
The EPA’s announcement and local rollout materials describe a regionwide solar-and-storage strategy that the city is tapping into. U.S. EPA documents outline the funding and the types of projects it will support.
Legal and finance note
On the legal side, Ohio law says a fiscal officer has to certify that funds are available before many contracts can be signed, which helps explain why the administration first reached for a short-term note. The requirement is spelled out in Ohio Revised Code section 5705.41, which details when money can be considered “in the treasury or in the process of collection,” including certain reimbursements or bond proceeds.
Ohio Revised Code §5705.41 also lays out the appropriation and certification rules that guided the city’s finance team as they prepared the borrowing ordinance in case grant payments and vendor invoices did not line up perfectly.
Next up, city staff say they will continue working with the selected contractor and federal partners to lock in orders and timelines. If contracts are finalized and reimbursements arrive as expected, the battery system is slated to be installed at the Richmond Road substation and could be running before the end of 2027. If Painesville misses the current ordering window, officials warned, that schedule could slip to 2028.
