Solar Project Delayed Again

Solar Project Delayed Again

Speaking about the need to lift the solar net metering cap at Coggshall Park in Fitchburg are Ben Hellerstein, of Environment Massachusetts; Anne Green, Fitchburg city councilor; Nathan LaRose, of the Fitchburg Mayor’s Office, and Ryan McNutt, Lancaster town administrator. News staff photo by DAMIEN FISHER

Damien Fisher
News Staff Writer

WINCHENDON  The town’s solar energy field project has hit another obstacle, after already suffering years of delays.

Acting Town Manager Bernie Lynch told selectmen this week that the project’s interconnection agreement with National Grid has expired, pushing off construction another 16 to 18 months. More worrisome is that fact that the state’s limit for solar energy credits has been reached, he said. That means even with the agreement, the project cannot go forward.

“The project could grind to a halt again,” he said.

In March, a cap on a key solar program known as “net metering” was hit for more than 170 Massachusetts communities, according to Ben Hellerstein with the group, Environment Massachusetts. Net metering allows solar panel owners to receive full compensation for the electricity they provide to the grid.

Without action from the state Legislature to lift the cap, all solar projects in areas served by National Grid are on hold. That could include the solar field that was supposed to be built on a portion of Toy Town’s capped landfill.

“We should be doing everything we can to keep (solar) going,” Mr. Hellerstein said.

Environment Massachusetts is lobbying the Legislature to raise the cap, kicking off a tour of communities impacted by the cap on Wednesday in Fitchburg. Lancaster Town Administrator Ryan McNutt spoke at the first stop on the tour in Coggshall Park in Fitchburg. Lancaster cannot expand its own solar field because of the cap. Lancaster built a solar field two years ago on its capped landfill, and would like to add more.

“It’s clean, it’s local, and it’s going to help us save money. Having the solar array has already saved residents money as well as brought other benefits,” he said. “The only thing standing in the way right now is the net metering cap.”

Winchendon was in line to save $12 million over the course of a 20-year agreement with SunEdison under a deal signed in April. According to the SunEdison deal, the town’s electricity rate would start at 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, and then increase 2 percent a year, leaving the town with an 11-cent rate at the end of the 20-year contract.

The town currently pays 22 cents per kilowatt-hours, and that rate is estimated to rise about 3 percent a year.

Winchendon’s solar energy project has been through delays before. Work on the site started, then stopped after the town signed a deal with the company Axio, in 2010. Axio was sold to SunEdison six months after the deal was struck with Winchendon. While SunEdison invested more than $1 million prepping the site, the deal eventually stalled out when the solar energy market changed.

After years of negotiation between the town and SunEdison, a new deal was worked out this spring, and it looked like the project would finally move forward.

Mr. Lynch said that SunEdison is not yet out of compliance with the new contract, and he is looking into all options for the town. The company is moving forward to negotiate a new interconnection agreement with National Grid, while Mr. Lynch plans to investigate energy deals with other companies to get a better rate on electricity apart from the solar project.