http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010712159935
Published December 15, 2010 in the Rutland Herald
Cloud hangs over North Springfield manufacturer’s solar project
By Patrick McArdle
STAFF WRITER
NORTH SPRINGFIELD – IVEK Corp. unveiled new solar energy panels that are expected to supply the manufacturer with about 90 percent of its power, but company president Mark Tanny said the project’s debut was not entirely sunny.
Using more than 900 solar panels in a two-acre field, IVEK plans to generate almost 240,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which will cut carbon emissions over a 25 year period by more than 4,000 tons, according to company officials.
“Unfortunately, we have also ended up in a situation where we’re the only (solar power) project in Vermont that is not eligible for the Vermont investment tax credit incentives and that has to do with the fact that we missed filing a form with the (Vermont) Clean Energy Development Fund. … As you might imagine, that kind of destroyed the financial justification for the system,” said Tanny in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Tanny said he believed the Legislature, in an effort to cap the tax credits available through the fund, added the registration filing process.
According to Tanny, the forms were released only about a week before they were due in July.
“The bigger problem was that we were never notified of the need to do that so we just found out about it after the deadline was gone,” he said.
In a speech Tanny gave on Tuesday, he said the company had decided to go ahead with the solar project after learning that the state would be offering tax credits to match those being offered by the federal government as long as the project was fully commissioned or operating by the end of this year.
Beyond the environmental value, Tanny said, because IVEK uses “substantial electricity” in the manufacturing of precision liquid dispensing systems and ceramic valves, being the source of its own power would improve the company’s infrastructure, making it more competitive, which could lead to more jobs.
Over the course of this year, IVEK secured a Certificate of Public Good from the Vermont Public Service Board and hired Prudent Living of Windsor and Renewable Energy Systems & Technologies of Bridgewater to design and install the system.
IVEK officials learned in August they would not be receiving tax credits.
Tanny met with the Clean Energy Development Fund board in August to explain the problem. According to Tanny, board members were responsive and seemed genuinely concerned that IVEK and other companies might not have been notified of the filing requirement.
The board set aside some tax credits for a second round of notification, but those were for projects that are smaller than the one IVEK built which still kept IVEK from qualifying.
“We are trying to work with the Legislature to find a remedy for our situation because it’s really kind of a weird situation, a real predicament to be in. We haven’t done anything wrong. We went right by the book,” Tanny said.
Tanny said he is scheduled to have a meeting in Montpelier on Friday with state representatives Michael Obuchowski of Windham County and Tony Klein of Washington County. Tanny said he had also been working with local state legislators like Sen. Dick McCormack of Windsor County and Rep. Cynthia Martin of Springfield.
According to Tanny, about 100 people attended the public unveiling of the solar system on Tuesday, about two-thirds of them the employees of IVEK. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101215/NEWS02/712159935
Cloud hangs over North Springfield manufacturer’s solar project
By Patrick McArdle
STAFF WRITER
NORTH SPRINGFIELD – IVEK Corp. unveiled new solar energy panels that are expected to supply the manufacturer with about 90 percent of its power, but company president Mark Tanny said the project’s debut was not entirely sunny.
Using more than 900 solar panels in a two-acre field, IVEK plans to generate almost 240,000 kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which will cut carbon emissions over a 25 year period by more than 4,000 tons, according to company officials.
“Unfortunately, we have also ended up in a situation where we’re the only (solar power) project in Vermont that is not eligible for the Vermont investment tax credit incentives and that has to do with the fact that we missed filing a form with the (Vermont) Clean Energy Development Fund. … As you might imagine, that kind of destroyed the financial justification for the system,” said Tanny in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Tanny said he believed the Legislature, in an effort to cap the tax credits available through the fund, added the registration filing process.
According to Tanny, the forms were released only about a week before they were due in July.
“The bigger problem was that we were never notified of the need to do that so we just found out about it after the deadline was gone,” he said.
In a speech Tanny gave on Tuesday, he said the company had decided to go ahead with the solar project after learning that the state would be offering tax credits to match those being offered by the federal government as long as the project was fully commissioned or operating by the end of this year.
Beyond the environmental value, Tanny said, because IVEK uses “substantial electricity” in the manufacturing of precision liquid dispensing systems and ceramic valves, being the source of its own power would improve the company’s infrastructure, making it more competitive, which could lead to more jobs.
Over the course of this year, IVEK secured a Certificate of Public Good from the Vermont Public Service Board and hired Prudent Living of Windsor and Renewable Energy Systems & Technologies of Bridgewater to design and install the system.
IVEK officials learned in August they would not be receiving tax credits.
Tanny met with the Clean Energy Development Fund board in August to explain the problem. According to Tanny, board members were responsive and seemed genuinely concerned that IVEK and other companies might not have been notified of the filing requirement.
The board set aside some tax credits for a second round of notification, but those were for projects that are smaller than the one IVEK built which still kept IVEK from qualifying.
“We are trying to work with the Legislature to find a remedy for our situation because it’s really kind of a weird situation, a real predicament to be in. We haven’t done anything wrong. We went right by the book,” Tanny said.
Tanny said he is scheduled to have a meeting in Montpelier on Friday with state representatives Michael Obuchowski of Windham County and Tony Klein of Washington County. Tanny said he had also been working with local state legislators like Sen. Dick McCormack of Windsor County and Rep. Cynthia Martin of Springfield.
According to Tanny, about 100 people attended the public unveiling of the solar system on Tuesday, about two-thirds of them the employees of IVEK. http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20101215/NEWS02/712159935
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