Bill Saltonstall has an idea for that ugly patch of land across the parking lot from Marion’s Wastewater Treatment Plant that had been briefly considered but quickly scrapped as a potential site for the town’s new Department of Public Works operations center: a solar farm.
In sharing with Monday night’s regular public meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee, Saltonstall noted that the town is not permitted to generate and net-meter any more electricity than the total used by the plant.
“There’s a lot more than 2 acres across the driveway from the Wastewater Treatment Plant. It used to be a leaf dump, now there’s some old vehicles,” said Saltonstall, who estimates a 4-acre site that should work out for Marion’s generating capacity and grow in step with the town’s power requirements.
Saltonstall reported that DPW Interim Director Becky Tilden said there are no set plans for that area, making it potentially available to the MRC. With a wetland area in the next lot toward Route 6, Saltonstall sees no possibility for an abutting residential development.
“It looks to me as though that might be a pretty good spot for the solar array,” he said.
In FY19, Saltonstall said, 99.3% of Marion’s power went through Future Generation Wind. In FY20, that figure dropped to 91% and in FY21 down to 75.9% before recovering to 80%. Saltonstall figures that minus power from Future Generation Wind, 463,970 kilowatt hours could be legally contributed from some other source.
“So I’d like to see if we could add solar totaling up to the allowed amount,” he said, noting annual (Wastewater Treatment Plant) power usage at 717,000 kilowatt hours per year. “Within 2 acres, we could generate 500,000 kilowatt hours … or simply build that solar field and tie it directly into the (Wastewater Treatment Plant) behind the meter, because the total power, say 500,000 kilowatt hours, would easily fit inside of the 717,000 it takes to run the plant.”
He compared the model to what homeowners are doing.
Saltonstall acknowledged that some soil on the site could need a survey for contamination but still would not discount a solar installation based on other projects built on contaminated land. He suggested a lease agreement with a solar company to avoid paying up front with a bond.
According to Saltonstall, Marion will not be in the next round of Green Communities grant funding.
EMC member Alanna Nelson suggested addressing the topic with the Cape and Vineyard Electric Cooperative (CVEC), focusing on a lease arrangement that could bring Marion another $100,000 a year.
EMC Chairman Christian Ingerslev said that as soon as the Marine Center, Town House and new DPW projects are completed, “They’re all going to use more power than they have in the past.”
As for the capped-landfill solar project across Benson Brook Road, Ingerslev reported that negotiations are in process with the contractor Distributed Solar Development (DSD) and that Meghan Davis and Judy Mooney are working the Marion side of it.
Nelson said that while the matter of getting power into the grid is in an appeal period, Eversource’s commitment is to go ahead. The cost is going up, she said, but the Inflation Reduction Act is creating opportunities for grant funding.
Opportunities for photovoltaics (solar) including DPW roof estimates depend on potential modifications to bylaws to allow ground-mounted and roof-mounted solar, and Ingerslev told the EMC he sent a letter to Marion Building Commissioner Bob Grillo regarding the process.
The answer is the Bylaw Codification Committee, a subcommittee of the Marion Planning Board, both of which EMC member Eileen Marum is also a member. The Codification Committee, led by Norm Hills, has been amidst a giant project of revision of hundreds of bylaw corrections and updates.
“We are a bit busy getting ready for Town Meeting, but … perhaps we can take that up at one of our sessions,” said Marum, who recommended Ingerslev seek a conversation with Hills on the projects’ purposes and goals. “It doesn’t look very onerous to me.”
Even if the project had to go to site-plan review, it would not be a reason to delay a project from moving ahead,” said Nelson. “It’s not like site-plan review is an insurmountable barrier to getting any project done.”
The EMC is looking to appear before the Select Board prior to March 7.
The next meeting of the Marion Energy Management Committee is scheduled for Monday, February 27, at 5:00 pm.
Marion Energy Management Committee
By Mick Colageo