Part of a 25-acre solar farm in South Burlington. VTD/Eric Blokland
NEW HAVEN — Town officials in New Haven have taken a stand against solar farms in their community.
The Addison County town’s selectboard on Oct. 21 voted down two proposed solar projects and decided it would intervene in the regulatory process for all future solar projects. Town officials say there are 14 proposals for solar arrays in New Haven.
Board Chair Kathy Barrett said she voted against one of the proposed projects because it was located in an area that would “ruin” the view shed of the town. She also said the projects conflicted with the town plan, which limits energy projects to less than 300 kilowatts in size.
The four-member board voted against groSolar’s proposal to build a 5-megawatt project on U.S. Route 7 and another project by Green Peak Solar to build a 2.1-megawatt project on Field Days Road. Neither project has received state approval.
Rod Viens, executive vice president for operations for groSolar, which is based in White River Junction, has said he would not develop the project if the town did not want it.
He said on Thursday he thinks the company will forgo the site, but is still looking at another site at the Sawyer Farm that he believed will gain more support due to natural screening of the project from all sides but the south.
Barrett said groSolar’s earlier promise to withdraw the project if the town opposed it does not apply to the Sawyer Farm site. A vote to oppose the Sawyer Farm project was not seconded at the meeting, she said, in part because of the natural screening.
The other Waitsfield company, however, is planning to push ahead despite the town’s vote.
Nathaniel Vandal, principal and co-founder of Green Peak, said the company will soon give the town a 45-day notice that it will be applying with state regulators to build the project. The company has at least two other proposals in New Haven, according to regulatory documents.
He said he was “disappointed” with the town’s vote, but hopes to continue having discussions with the town. He said the town plan’s limit on larger projects is a “guideline,” and that New Haven already has solar arrays that exceed this threshold.
The Vermont Public Service Board decides whether to permit projects based on the benefits to the state. Towns cannot make a final determination.
Nonetheless, the selectboard voted to intervene before the board fpr all future solar projects, whether it is for or against them. Barrett said participating in the quasi judicial process will not cost the town anything because it already pays a flat annual fee for the town attorney and a stipend for support from the Addison County Regional Planning Commission.
Last spring, the State Senate voted down a bill that would have given towns more say in the siting of solar projects. Lawmakers voting against the bill said it would make it harder for the state to achieve its renewable energy goals.
Viens said groSolar was planning on retiring the renewable energy credits for the project. This would set a higher price for the power, but provide Vermont electric customers with renewable energy generated in the state.
Vandal, however, said his company would sell the credits to reduce the cost of the power the project produces. He said selling the RECs will chop about $33 per megawatt-hour annually off the price for the power. He said the project has been approved to qualify for standard offer under Vermont’s SPEED program. Under the contract, Vermont utilities will purchase the power at a flat annual price of $127 per megawatt-hour for 25 years, he said.
“We are really proud to demonstrate the lowest-cost renewables in the state,” he said.
Having bought the RECs, Vermont utilities would not be able to sell this power to their customers as renewable; but he said the power can be use it to meet renewable energy targets to be set in 2017.
Vandal said the $5 to $6 million dollar project would be located in a parcel far from the road and naturally screened on all side but the south. He said the project would provide the town with property tax revenue without adding any burden on municipal services.
Karen Horn, the director of public policy and advocacy for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns, said she did not know whether any other town in Vermont has voted against a solar project.
Nonetheless, she said municipalities are becoming a lot more careful about what they write into their town plans. She said her group has been talking with towns about setting “clear community standards” that the “Public Service Board says they will pay attention to.”
She said it is important to note than some towns are building their own solar projects to power municipal buildings.
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