Members of the Marion Energy Management Committee are convinced that the town wants a solar installation at the Cushing Community Center.
The question remains whether it will be a rooftop project or a parking-lot canopy. The EMC indicated during Monday night’s public meeting at the Police Station that it believes a canopy is the more-feasible design.
EMC member Bill Saltonstall reported that the non-profit company PowerOptions has received requested information on a full year of electrical and gas usage by all town accounts. PowerOptions reportedly wanted to talk with the town about doing a solar project for the senior center. A subsequent discussion with Town Administrator Geoff Gorman indicated to Saltonstall that the town is also interested.
Saltonstall estimates that such a grid would measure 40 feet wide and as long as the town wishes to make it, perhaps 120 or 140 feet.
“That’s a lot of panels,” he said, noting that PowerOptions figures it could get most of the solar power for the Community Center by going on the rooftops. “They can’t get it all, but they can get most of it. That would be a real messy job.
“If they’re going to use that much of the roof, I think they’ve got their eyes on the trees in the rear of the building … that would make a significant cut into the output.”
Reporting PowerOptions’ interest in meeting with town officials, Saltonstall believes the EMC’s input should not end here. He also thinks the Friends of the Cushing Community Center Working Group should be at the table discussing the matter. The Friends have been front and center, spearheading and procuring funding for pivotal projects such as the walking path and pavilion.
Nonetheless, Saltonstall reiterated the importance of Gorman’s involvement especially because of the amount of money involved in such a project.
EMC member Jennifer Francis pointed out that a parking-lot canopy would not be dependent on construction projects related to the building itself.
“The place where you’re least susceptible to shading is the middle of the parking lot,” said Saltonstall. “I was a little put off by the fact PowerOptions suddenly wanted to barrel ahead with this project (as a roof solar).”
Francis said the EMC should have some hard numbers before discussions can get serious.
According to Saltonstall, PowerOptions said the roof is where the most economy is. But he said it’s fair to go back to PowerOptions and ask for rough numbers on a canopy installation. “We can also talk about rooftops, but our major interest is in a canopy,” he said.
EMC Chairman Christian Ingerslev suggested the committee seek out three ballpark numbers for a canopy installation, a roof-top installation, and a combined scenario.
Complexities abound when capacity is discussed, in part because of net-metering limits per the town’s contract with Future Generation Wind. Saltonstall said that number is a “moving target.” Ingerslev noted that the Community Center was not originally in the budget for the Green Communities equation.
According to Saltonstall, Marion used 2,601,000 Kilowatt Hours (KWh) in FY18 and had net-metered 2,585,000 KWh or 90%. That percentage has been up and down since (91.6% in FY19, 75% in FY20, back to 80.7% in FY21, and now a little higher).
It’s expected that, with heat pumps approved for two Fire stations, the Town House and the Community Center, Marion’s electricity usage will only increase.
Large residential developments approved for construction in Marion will indirectly drive up electrical usage by generating sewage.
Saltonstall said EMC member Tom Friedman, who was not present for Monday’s meeting, learned about another company doing municipal solar projects as canopies and would like to see that company submit a competitive proposal. He said PowerOptions has indicated there is some way around competitive bidding. “I’m not really comfortable with that,” said Saltonstall, calling it a “hurry-up approach.”
“If they want to hurry up, they can hurry up and give us an estimate,” said Francis. “We’ve got to have some concrete numbers to bring to them.”
It is believed that a solar project at the Community Center would power car-charging stations on the site.
The EMC requested that the new Marine Center be constructed as solar-ready, and member Eileen Marum reported that architect Tim Sawyer recently told the Marion Planning Board that the building is designed to be solar ready including wiring in the attic.
Green Communities grant funding is on hold, pending more knowledge about the planned DPW and Marine Center constructions.
The committee discussed Rochester’s recent decision to drop the Stretch Code and become the state’s first municipality to resign from the state’s Green Communities program.
While EMC members believe Marion has significantly benefitted from its commitment to Green Communities, they are not committed to pushing for the town’s adoption of a more-strict Stretch Code available next year.
Nelson asked if the EMC should heed the pushback against its efforts to take away fossil fuels as an energy source for all new constructions in Marion.
Ingerslev suggested asking the town to inform developers that, given the town’s commitment to electric energy, usage of propane or gas in a property should come with the capacity to convert to electric when that becomes mandatory.
Nelson told the committee that she talked with CVEC last week about the Benson Brook capped-landfill, solar project and was told they are in negotiations.
“The goal earlier this year was that they would be coming to the Planning Board in the fall,” she said, noting the possibility that the project could go back out to bid.
The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for Monday, August 28, at 6:00 pm at the Police Station.
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo