Charlotte Solar Proposes 2.2 MW Solar Farm in East Charlotte by Edd Merritt,
December 15, 2011, page 1.....

Charlotte Solar Proposes 2.2 MW Solar Farm in East Charlotte

by Edd Merritt

Charlotte Solar, LLC has begun an application through the Vermont Public Service Board’s (PSB) Section 248 process to develop a solar farm on the north side of the Charlotte/Hinesburg Road in East Charlotte. Initiated under a 25-year lease arrangement, it would rest about one-half mile west of the intersection with Spear Street on property owned by Clark Hinsdale. Charlotte Solar is an “entity established by American Capital Energy, Inc. (ACE).” According to the pre-application letter, ACE is the “premiere solar engineering, procurement and construction contractor, and solar developer in the United States.” ACE has installed more than 30 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels in seven states.
The East Charlotte project is expected to consist of 345 +/- solar arrays (fixed panels as opposed to trackers). Such panels require less room than the trackers to produce their electricity, but they are less efficient than the larger movable panels. The site will cover approximately 15 acres of a 46.2-acre tract of open land and will generate 2.2 megawatts of power extending to all utilities in the state. It is somewhat smaller than the site in South Burlington off Dubois Drive, which consists of tracker panels. However, the Dubois site is well hidden from residential view. The proposed East Charlotte panels will resemble the solar farm in Vergennes adjacent to Route 7. The expected energy output would be 2,850 +/- megawatt hours of electricity, enough to power about 315 homes.
The topography of the site slopes down slightly to the north – away from Hinesburg Road – gradually dropping roughly 50 feet. The single-post base of the arrays will extend approximately four feet above ground with the panels themselves going up another six feet, tilted at a 30-degree angle to the south, creating a system with a maximum height of approximately ten feet off the ground.
Setbacks from property lines are expected to be about 100 feet to the east, 105 feet from the Colvin Burlington Community Land Trust line to the south, 293 feet from Hinesburg Road, 300 feet from the edge of the forest to the north and 834 feet from the northern property line.
Charlotte Solar will fence the entire project. The project’s inverters, which convert direct current to alternating current, will be housed in a small pre-fabricated structure in the field alongside a transformer stepping up the voltage it sends to the Green Mountain Power pole. The applicant’s attorney said that one reason for the site selection was its ease of connection with the grid, noting that this was often a significant cost in such projects.
Charlotte Solar initiated the process through a pre-application dated November 16 to the town’s Planning Commission. There is a 45-day period within which the town has an opportunity to respond to the terms before a full application may be submitted to the Public Service Board. According to Charlotte Solar attorney, Andrew Raubvogel, the window for comments closes seven days prior to January 3. He estimates that his client will file a petition with the PSB in time for the board to render a decision by late spring or early summer 2012. If positive, it would allow the project to be built and operational within the year.
The project was presented to the Planning Commission on December 1. The audience consisted largely of neighbors to the farm site: the Colvins on Hinesburg Road, Berniers across the street and residents of the Sheehan Green development that abuts the site directly to the east. The Planning Commission was without a quorum that night but elected to hear comments from the audience and schedule a second meeting for December 20.
In response to a question about his client’s selection of the site, Raubvogel said that it hinged on three considerations once the particular parcel was determined to be available: 1) the ability to produce 2.2 megawatts of power, 2) the shading/openness of the land, 3) its proximity to development and within the property, its nearness to a wildlife corridor. Charlotte Solar gained access to the site through the state’s “Standard Offer Program,” which is part of the “Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED)” program. Under this arrangement, SPEED helps ensure that the benefits of energy sources “flow to the Vermont economy in general, and to the rate-paying citizens of the state in particular.” A “standard offer” contract ensures a stable energy price for the next 25 years. The East Charlotte land was selected through a lottery administered by the state Public Service Board, and there is no alternative site that Charlotte Solar can develop under the Standard Offer Contract should this proposal be denied.
Nearby residents expressed several concerns and raised questions about the project. Stephen Colvin, whose house abuts the project to the south was concerned with the size, saying he felt 345 panels is simply too large. He is not against alternative energy projects, he said, but would prefer a smaller size. (See Commentary page 3.)
Coupled with concerns that the energy was not going directly into neighborhood or Charlotte specifically, as across-the-street neighbor Bruce Bernier noted, questions of the necessity of the size were raised by others in the audience. East Charlotter Rick Tenney said he felt it should be incorporated in the East Charlotte village since it was located within one-half mile of Baptist Corners. This meant, he felt, its planning would fall under that for the village as a whole. Others raised questions about the real cost to the community and the validity of claims for reduced energy costs resulting from it.
Additional public meetings on the solar farm will be held by the Selectboard on December 19 and the Planning Commission on December 20, both at 6 p.m. at the Town Hall.