GELD Pushes Plan For 12 Acre Solar Farm On Landfill Site

Groton Electric Light Department Manager Kevin Kelly is preparing an RFP for construction of a multi-acre solar array covering about 12 acres of town-owned land at Cow Pond Brook. Projections are that the array ultimately will generate approximately three megawatts at peak capacity.

The proposed solar array would be sited primarily on the two landfills in the Cow Pond Brook area. This solar farm would not be built by GELD, but by a developer specializing in solar development. The power would then be purchased by GELD from the developer under long-term contract.

Asked about news reports that the solar farm originally had been planned for GELD-owned land at Nate Nutting road and on land near Sandy Pond in Ayer, GELD manager Kevin Kelly said environmental concerns for Blandings turtle habitat had disqualified the Nate Nutting site and that state regulation had blocked development of the Sandy Pond site.

Although Kelly said he was very optimistic about successful completion of the solar farm, he warned that there were still mitigating factors that could kill it. Since the solar array would be built on town land, a long-term lease for the land and a PILOT payment [Payment In Lieu of Taxes] between the town and the developer need to be negotiated. Kelly explained that complications could arise during these negotiations, causing the deal to fail.

He hastened to add, however, that an informal 'oral agreement' already had been negotiated with the town, so he was optimistic that this obstacle could be cleared. He continued, "The largest hurdle at this point is securing the permits with the state DEP since this is a capped landfill." He added that the project was viable under existing state regulations, but cautioned that the state bureaucracy was unpredictable, subsidy money was limited, and that regulations, especially state reimbursements, could be changed unexpectedly making the project non-viable.