ENFIELD — Months after the state Siting Council issued a declaratory ruling allowing NextEra Energy Resources to build a 131-acre solar farm off Broad Brook Road, a second company is hoping to build the same thing although on a much smaller scale.
The company, Lodestar Energy of Avon, submitted a declaratory petition on Sept. 12 to the Siting Council, a body that has legal jurisdiction over the siting of power facilities, requesting approval to build a nearly 10-acre solar farm on Powder Hill Road.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to discuss the petition during its meeting at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at Town Hall but take no action on the matter.
In the petition, Lodestar, a limited liability company that develops renewable energy projects in Connecticut and New England, states that its goal is to design an environmentally compatible project that produces the maximum amount of energy while avoiding and minimizing adverse environmental impacts.
The petition also states the project will not have a substantial adverse environmental impact on the immediate and surrounding area.
Located on the east side of Powder Hill Road and north of the intersection of Monroe and Abbe roads, the property is owned by Powder Hill Sand & Gravel.
The site has historically been used as a gravel and sandpit as well as a storage and staging site for the owner’s landscaping and road construction business, according to the petition.
But Lodestar holds an option to lease the site and is in active discussions to purchase the entire property — all 24.42 acres — from Powder Hill Sand & Gravel.
If approved by the Siting Council, Lodestar would exercise its option and enter into a long-term lease for 20 years that will give it the right to construct, operate, and maintain the solar facility at the site.
The project construction period is estimated to take approximately four to six months from issuance of all required permits. Subject to regulatory approval, Lodestar anticipates starting construction in early 2020.
During a Town Council meeting July 1, members unanimously approved appointing Lodestar as the town’s authorized representative in regard to any submissions having to do with solar energy.
Jaime Smith, Lodestar co-founder, told the council at the meeting that his company develops solar power-generation facilities around the state and supplies the electricity to Eversource Energy, resulting in power credits to any towns, including South Windsor, Suffield, and Vernon, that sign up for it.
Smith explained that the electricity produced by the solar farm is sent to the grid, producing credits. Lodestar then communicates with Eversource, which provides the town’s electricity, to transfer the credits to the town’s account.
When the town receives its Eversource bill, it would be the normal amount, minus 15 cents per kilowatt hour in credits.
So essentially, the town would pay 85 cents on each dollar — instead of the full price — for the electricity costs on the top town-affiliated accounts, such as Enfield High School, John F. Kennedy Middle School, and the former Fermi High School building at 124 N. Maple St. that has been rebranded as the Enfield Town Annex.
As part of the agreement, the town has the ability to cancel Lodestar’s appointment at any time for any reason without further obligation.
It is estimated that the power purchase agreement will save the town of Enfield around $1.6 million in electricity costs over the next two decades.