Springfield board endorses plan for solar array

The Select Board has endorsed a plan by Winstanley Enterprises and its business partners to build a five-lot, 2.5-megawatt solar facility in the North Springfield industrial park.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20141016/NEWS02/710169930

Published October 16, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Springfield board endorses plan for solar array By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The Select Board has endorsed a plan by Winstanley Enterprises and its business partners to build a five-lot, 2.5-megawatt solar facility in the North Springfield industrial park. The board voted Monday night to write to the state Public Service Board in support of the project, and in another vote instructed Town Attorney Stephen Ankuda to start negotiations with Winstanley and its partners for a power contract. Winstanley, along with the Green Lantern Corp., want to build five 500-kilowatt solar facilities, which would require five different applications to the PSB. Brattleboro Memorial Hospital has already agreed to buy the electricity from one of the arrays. At a presentation earlier in the year, Green Lantern and Winstanley said the town could save about 18 percent on its annual power bills — or about $20,000 a year — if it agreed to buy a portion of its electricity from the solar facility. It would require a long-term contract, which in turn must be approved by voters. A factor in the timing of the project is the fact that state incentives for this kind of solar facility expire on Dec. 31, 2014, while federal incentives don’t expire until the end of 2016. Selectman George McNaughton, who made both motions in support of the town’s involvement of the solar project, noted that the town’s Energy Committee had met with the developers and endorsed the project. McNaughton said there may need to be enabling legislation before all five arrays are built because of the vagueness of the legislation, which addresses the issue of “proximity.” “That site is a good site for the project, not just two arrays, but all five,” McNaughton said. Selectman Peter MacGillivray said the solar project would produce “no smoke, no sound” — a reference to Winstanley’s first energy plan for the land, a biomass plant. MacGillivray noted that the state incentives “drop off Dec. 31” and he said the town “should not miss” the opportunity of not just buying solar-generated electricity, but having such a facility pay taxes in town. “The PSB should be aware Springfield supports the project,” said Selectman David Yesman. “The last go around, Springfield was silent,” he said. This time, he said, Springfield should “stand at the top of the hill shouting, ‘Yeah, go ahead and build five!’” Dan Ingold of Powersmith, a partner in the solar project, noted that the five solar arrays would take up 20.5 acres already owned by Winstanley, and that each of the five arrays would be built on 4 acres, with the solar panels taking up less than that. “Each facility will stand on its own,” he said.