Vandals damage New Gloucester solar farm - Spectrum News
Vandals damage New Gloucester solar farm
Police are investigating vandalism that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to a solar farm in New Gloucester.
Police believe two people were involved and that the incident occurred on June 30 between 10:30-11:30 p.m.
“What I believe they did was that they grabbed a couple skid steers and they got into the property,” Cody Ellich, assistant construction manager at Novel Energy Solutions Solar Farm. said. “They started ... tearing and ripping everything. The fence got caught underneath the skid steers, which stopped them.”
There was still evidence of vandalism on Wednesday morning, with debris strewn around the area.
“It’s tough. I’ve been on this site since the winter,” Ellich said. “We’ve had a lot of guys on the site. When they saw it, it was disheartening, it’s upsetting. A lot of guys don’t realize how much sacrifice it takes in building these.”
He says there’s no time frame for when the solar farm will be repaired, as the company is still assessing the damage.
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information to call (207) 774-1444.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: solar
Declining costs and government encouragement have resulted in a rapid increase in solar energy production in the United States over the past 10 years, although solar’s share remains small: 1.6 percent of all electricity generation in 2018. That rapid growth is projected to continue.