July 20, 2012
Massachusetts

Borrego Solar withdraws from Kingston solar project

By Kathryn Gallerani | Wicked Local Kingston | www.wickedlocal.com 20 July 2012

KINGSTON – The town has to start all over again finding a solar company to install a solar farm on the town’s capped landfill.

With Borrego Solar Systems Inc. having withdrawn from the project, it has to go out to bid again.

Selectmen Chairman Joe Casna said this is a case of a company deciding to withdraw its proposal after reviewing the terms of its agreement with the town.

“They rethought their position and withdrew their proposal,” he said.

Acting Town Administrator Nancy Howlett has been working with town counsel on the documents needed for a Request For Proposals to re-bid the project.

“Borrego would like us to include a provision in the RFP for the successful proposer to take over the net metering agreement already in place with NStar and to use their plans that are already permitted,” she said.

Borrego wants to be compensated, she said, but it can’t be a requirement of the proposal. Instead, this would be an option for any company bidding on the project. Town counsel will include a provision for this option in the RFP.

“Once the documents are complete, I will move forward with the advertisement,” she said.

The town entered into lease and power purchase agreements with two different private companies for the solar array and the wind turbine Independence projects on the landfill site. The town purchases electricity from the developers and any excess is sold back to the grid.

The developer would be responsible for the installation and operation of the solar installation.

In 2010, Town Meeting authorized selectmen to lease parts of the landfill site to private developers for the solar and wind turbine projects. Voters also approved two articles that would extend the wind turbine and newly approved solar photovoltaic zoning overlay districts to include land owned by developer Mary O’Donnell.

The property is contiguous with the original overlay district, which covers the town’s capped landfill, the transfer station and the sewer treatment plant off Cranberry Road.

A representative for Borrego Solar could not be reached for comment.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/07/20/borrego-solar-withdraws-from-kingston-solar-project/