NORWICH – After hearing the case to lease county-owned land to the City of Norwich for a comprehensive solar power project, the Chenango County Board of Supervisors on Monday referred two drafted motions to the county’s Finance and Public Works committees for further consideration.
The two draft resolutions will allow the county to enter an intermunicipal agreement with the city that my result in the installation of several power generating solar panels on a county-owned parcel along State Route 12, adjacent to the county landfill in the Town of North Norwich.
One or both of those resolutions may make it back to the Board of Supervisors for adoption next month, depending upon recommendation from committee members.
At Monday’s monthly meeting of the Board of Supervisors, county officials were given details of the project which the city says would result in big savings for local taxpayers. The city’s been investigating a possible solar project since August, when city council members learned of federal funding and additional grant opportunities available through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Norwich has since partnered with SolarCity, a California-based energy service provider specializing in solar power technologies all across the country. SolarCity had representatives present at Monday’s Board of Supervisors meeting to answer questions and push the case to install solar equipment on the company’s preferred North Norwich site.
“We urge you to move the intermunicipal agreement forward,” said Bill Buchan, an attorney representing SolarCity and the City of Norwich. “We think it’s a very good program that could provide some very significant savings.”
City officials, along with representatives of SolarCity, first pitched a land lease agreement proposal to the county’s Public Works committee in January. The 26-year agreement would allow the city to use the dormant gravel pit next to the landfill to house an array of solar panels which would generate power for municipal buildings including City Hall, the Norwich Police Department, the city DPW, and the firehouse. In return, the county would receive approximately 2.5 cents per kilowatt to offset some of their own energy costs.
According to SolarCity, the panels would dump approximately 3.5 million kilowatt hours on the power grid each year. The city would pay SolarCity 6.9 cents per kilowatt hour generated; but that cost would be offset by a 10.9 cent credit from NY State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) – a credit made possible by federal and NYSERDA funding.
The project is expected to save Norwich taxpayers nearly $100,000 in the first year and more than $4 million over 25 years.
