Taunton landfill solar array agreement with Nextgrid approved - Taunton Daily Gazette

Taunton landfill solar array agreement with Nextgrid approved

Taunton landfill solar array finally approved. How much money will the city make?
Daniel Schemer

TAUNTON — The former Taunton landfill will soon be home to a massive solar array.

The City Council unanimously approved a lease agreement on Sept. 19 with developer Nextgrid to install a little over 7,800 solar panels on the southern side of the landfill.

The project won’t cost the city or its taxpayers any money. Instead, Taunton is leasing that portion of the landfill to Nextgrid, which will be spending its own money for the installation, roughly $10 million to $15 million, according to numbers presented to the City Council back in November.

Under a "power purchase agreement" (PPA), the developer would sell the energy generated back to Taunton at a reduced rate, as well as pay the annual lease fees for the site, over the course of the lease, which is 20 years, plus two possible extensions, for a total of 30 years.

Who is B-P's new boys soccer coach? Former Diman soccer player Mendonca takes the reins at Bristol-Plymouth

What are RECs?

In addition to lease payments, the city will also get revenue by selling "renewable energy certificates" (RECs), which will be issued to the city every time the solar array generates a set amount of renewable energy that is transferred to the electrical grid.

RECs are also used by electricity consumers to substantiate renewable energy use claims, which is why they are marketable to businesses looking to make “green” claims about where they get their energy.

Matthew Parent, the city's energy consultant, told the City Council the energy produced from the solar array will be targeted for low and moderate income neighborhoods. He explained that once the energy is on the grid, TMLP can distribute that energy accordingly.

What $600K buys in Raynham right now Weekly home sales: Oversized raised ranch in Raynham sells for over $600K

How much money will the city make?

The city's Chief Financial Officer Patrick Dello Russo told the City Council on Sept. 5 that over the course of the potential 30-year lease, revenue from lease payments can total $7.09 million and revenue from RECs could total $2.71 million, meaning a grand total of $9.8 million in revenue for the city over 30 years.

Why were early revenue estimates higher?

Back in November, Parent estimated the city could generate at least $200,000 annually from RECs and $100,000-$400,000 annually in lease payments. Dello Russo said at the time those were conservative figures and he was hoping for total revenue of over $1 million annually.

After the Sept. 19 vote, Parent said one of the reasons for a decrease in the estimated revenue is a reduction in the overall size of the solar array, from roughly 10,000 panels to 7,848. This means the initial power generation estimate of 5 megawatts annually is reduced to around 3.3 megawatts.

A reason the reduction was done, Parent said, was concerns from TMLP it couldn’t handle the full output of the original specifications without costly infrastructure upgrades.

“The power lines can only handle X amount of energy,” he said.

What does TMLP say?

TMLP General Manager Kim Holmes told the City Council's Committee on Public Property on Sept. 19 the power purchase agreement is between Nextgrid and TMLP, while the lease agreement is between Nextgrid and the city.

Regarding the power purchase agreement, Holmes said while TMLP hasn’t signed it yet, “we have the major terms of the PPA settled” and “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t sign it.” Holmes said Mayor Shaunna O'Connell's administration has been in steady contact with TMLP.

When asked why TMLP didn’t want to take on its own solar project on the landfill, Holmes explained while they have multiple solar sites they purchase power from, they're "not solar experts,” don’t own any of the facilities and have never installed any of their own arrays.

Holmes concluded by saying TMLP wants to “get its foot in the door” developing solar, but “something of this capacity, the landfill, it isn’t wise for this to be our first project.”

Councilor Barry Sanders said: “It sounds like a goal for the future. It’s important I hear that. You don’t have the skill set yet for this.”

Assurances about the RFP process

Several councilors also expressed concerns about the RFP process. Of the 17 business inquiries into the RFP, only one developer ended up bidding: Nextgrid.

Coucilors Sanders, Estele Borges and John McCaul expressed concerns about whether the RFP and procurement processes would stand up to scrutiny from the state’s inspector general? Sanders reminded the Council that the city had to redo the procurement for the gasification waste management proposal with Aries, due to the state inspector general's finding flaws in the RFP process.

But both Dello Russo and Procurement Director Andrew Sukeforth assured the City Council the procurement and RFP processes the city undertook meet all the state requirements.

Why only one bidder?

Regarding why only 1 developer ended up bidding, a multitude of reasons were postulated.

Dello Russo suggested many interested bidders might not have followed through once they found out it was a landfill, saying it is “a steep, challenging site” which needs a developer experienced with that kind of location.

Councilor Kelly Dooner said she did a lot of research into this proposal, including contacting solar companies in New England to find out what they’re looking for in solar array projects.

“The general consensus is doing business with a city isn’t necessarily the most desirable entity to work with,” she said, explaining the solar companies she spoke to are prioritizing solar farms in empty countrysides owned by LLCs or private landowners.

Councilor Duarte also brought up that working with a municipal utility provider, like TMLP, is not as attractive to solar developers as working with Eversource or National Grid because the electrical purchase rates for customers is much lower with municipal providers.

Duarte concluded that big utility providers aren’t concerned as much with higher rates, but “with TMLP, they balance the interests of the rate payers, and the city has to balance the interests of the taxpayers.”

Councilor Christopher Coute concurred, saying because of TMLP’s lower electrical rate, it means a less attractive return on investment for solar developers to the point of its not being worth their time.

“As a homeowner, I can’t find people right now to take my money and redo my garage doors. I keep trying. No one wants to take my money,” said Councilor Jeff Postell, making the point that “we are looking for vendors who are a good fit” and “if they don’t want the job, then they don’t want the job.”

When will the solar project be up and running?

Energy consultant Matthew Parent told The Gazette the developer could start construction as early as the beginning of next year, though that date hasn't been finalized. The whole installation, he said, would only take a few months to build.