Springfield solar array to power Windsor hospital

The town of Springfield has agreed to a 25-year lease on six acres of land for a solar array near the town’s highway garage. The array will bring in $12,500 per year in lease payments from renewable energy company Barrington Power Ascutney 2, LLC (BP Ascutney 2), and will provide power to Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor,


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2017-04-28 / Front Page Springfield solar array to power Windsor hospital By TORY JONES DENIS toryd@eagletimes.com SPRINGFIELD — The town of Springfield has agreed to a 25-year lease on six acres of land for a solar array near the town’s highway garage. The array will bring in $12,500 per year in lease payments from renewable energy company Barrington Power Ascutney 2, LLC (BP Ascutney 2), and will provide power to Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Windsor, Springfield Town Manager Tom Yennerell said on Thursday, April 27. “There are a few of them (renewable energy companies) out there, doing this kind of work,” Yennerell said. The solar array will be installed near the town’s highway garage on Fairgrounds Road, in a former gravel pit. Once installed, the array would not be visible from Fairground Road, or virtually any other location, Yennerell said. “It’s in a really good location,” he said. Yennerell said he approached several renewable energy companies to gauge interest in setting up a solar array project on a small part of the approximate 72 acres of land the town owns in that area. BP Ascutney 2, represented by managing member David Russell, stepped forward as an interested party, Yennerell said. The 500 kilowatts of power produced by the solar array will go to a grid from which Mt. Ascutney Hospital can draw. That is a typical output for this size of solar array, Yennerell said. That solar power will not go to the town, which is already connected to other grids. However, in addition to the $12,500 annual lease payment, the solar project will bring in approximately $5,000 per year in taxes to Springfield, Yennerell said. Investors in the project are also eligible to receive tax credits, he said. The company hopes to install the array this summer, once it has received its Certificate of Public Good from the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB). Locating solar arrays in gravel pits, or other unused areas not optimal for most types of development, is “a priority for PSB,” he said. Because the land sale was a real estate negotiation, the selectboard and energy company met in executive session, and no public meeting was required, Yennerell said. The Springfield Selectboard can authorize the conveyance of the land, under state law, as long as it has given public notice at least 30 days in advance, or unless a petition is filed with the town clerk, signed by at least five percent of any registers voters objecting to the sale. The company has not yet completed its design for the six acres, as it needed to find a location first. The company can request at any time to renew the lease, or may decide to upgrade the equipment in a few years, depending on changes in technology. At the end of the 25-year lease agreement, if it is not renewed, the company plans to disassemble the solar array project and leave the land on Fairground Road the way it was found, Yennerell said.