CAMDEN — A packed house at the Washington Street Conference Room below the Camden Town Office resulted in solid approval for a solar array to be constructed at the town-owned Sagamore Farm.

The former working farm abuts Camden Hills State Park and is off of Route 1, north of Camden.

On Aug. 15, voters approved at a 12-minute special town meeting the 20-year power purchase agreement with Revision Energy, of Liberty, to produce solar-generated electrical power.

The array is to be a 124-kilowatt ground-mounted installation.

According to the endorsement letter from the town’s Energy Committee, the array: “will provide a local source of solar-generated electrical power, moving our community toward a more renewable energy future. The photovoltaic panels will offset some of the Town’s power consumption, providing us with long-term cost savings, yet entailing no tax increase and no related increase in the municipal electricity budget. A YES vote will give the Town permission to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Such agreements have enabled the municipalities of Lincolnville and Belfast, and the Camden Hills Regional High School, to build large arrays and pay the installer monthly.”

Sagamore Farm abuts Camden Hills State Park. Its history as a working farm began in the late 1800s, when it  was purchased by Joseph B. Stearns, who operated it as a high-end cattle farm, until his death in 1895. In 1945, Chauncy and Bruce Borland transferred the Sagamore Farm deed to Camden.

Since then, Sagamore Farm has largely reverted to woodland. At some point, the Town of Camden built a 120,000 gallon underground water storage tank near the entrance to the property. There is also a small abandoned gravel pit (used in the late 1960s or early 1970s) next to the storage tank, which has since become a wetland and home to a variety of aquatic wildlife. During the reconstruction of High Street, the area behind Laite Construction was used for fill and has since been maintained as a field.

At various times since 1980, there have been proposals to promote Sagamore Farm as a site for a business park. 

The Energy Committee’s information outreach includes the follow questions and answers:

1. Where will the panels be located and how much space will they take up?
The solar array will include approximately 360 solar panels. It will be located along the northern edge of an existing open meadow, taking up a little more than half an acre of the 77-acre Sagamore Farm parcel. The array site cannot be seen from Route One or any residential properties. The Sagamore Farm parcel has long been envisioned by the Town as an industrial park site. Ready access to the solar site is presently across private land; the estate of Parker S. Laite has gifted the Town an easement to access the site for as long as the site is used for the solar array.

2. What is the cost to the Town of installing this solar array?
There would be no cost to the Town for the solar array’s installation. The Town is working with ReVision Energy in a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). ReVision will buy, install, own and operate the system for the first six years. During that time, the Town will purchase solar electricity from ReVision at a slightly lower rate than would otherwise be paid to the electric company. After 6 years, the Town will have the option to buy the array for $191,567 (approximately 53% less than the original purchase price), or continue to purchase power from ReVision and revisit the purchase option later. The Town would not need to increase taxes during the initial six years or subsequently to pay for the project.

3. How might the Town pay for the solar array at the six-year mark?
The Town could take out a loan, or municipal bond, for an eight-year period. Calculations indicate that, at 4 percent interest, bond payments over an eight year loan period would be equivalent to payments that would otherwise be going to the utility for the amount of electricity the array will generate. Generally, the earlier the Town exercises its option to buy, the larger the lifetime project savings. Once the panels are purchased, savings would escalate considerably since the electricity generated will be, in effect, free.

4. What is the advantage of doing this now?
The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has recently proposed a change in Net Energy Billing (NEB) rules. This proposed ruling “grandfathers” full NEB benefits for 15 years to all solar energy producers operating by December 31, 2017. If systems are not installed by this date, NEB benefits would be reduced and only good for 10 years. Many towns in Maine are installing systems this year to take advantage of the proposed 15- year NEB benefit; Belfast, Rockport and Lincolnville have already installed municipal solar arrays.

5. When would the system be installed?
Revision estimates 90 days to completion once the PPA is signed.

6. What is Net Energy Billing (NEB)?
Net energy is the difference between the kilowatt-hours (kWhs) used by a customer (in this case the Town) and the kWhs generated by that customer. NEB, also known as net metering, enables customers who generate their own electricity to “bank” that electricity, which is then used as credit (currently at full retail price) toward their use of grid-supplied electricity.

7. Has consideration been given to other sites such as municipal roofs or the landfill?
For nearly two years, the Town’s Energy and Sustainability Committee has worked with staff and consultants to consider many possible locations for solar arrays. Unfortunately, no existing town roofs were feasible and the covered portion of the landfill cannot be used because its final configuration is not yet permanent.

8. How safe are these solar panels and what maintenance do they need?
The panels will be mounted on secure posts in concrete anchors in the ground, and are not hazardous to be near. All electrical power will travel through wiring in underground conduit. Occasional mowing around the bases is the only regular maintenance needed.

9. How much of the Town’s electric use will the solar array offset?
Production from the proposed array is estimated to produce 160,286 kWh (kiloWatthours) of electricity annually, which amounts to about 2.45 percent of Camden’s 2014 municipal electrical consumption (not counting schools). The Sagamore Farm site could support a much larger array in the future, and Camden could add solar panels to new and renovated buildings. These panels will reduce the Town’s CO2 (greenhouse gas) emissions by 169,000 lbs. each year, totaling more than 4 million pounds over the lifetime of the solar panels.

10. How long do solar panels last?
The panels are warranted for 25 years by the manufacturer. The warranty life is considered to be the halfway point in the actual lifetime of the equipment. With no maintenance other than a possible low-cost inverter replacement after 20 years, solar systems can have a productive and trouble-free commercial life of 40 years or longer.

11. Why did the Town choose ReVision Energy as the provider?
ReVision Energy, a B Corporation devoted to leading the region’s transition from a fossil-fuel-based economy to a renewable-energy-based economy, has installed more than 5,000 solar energy systems in Maine and New Hampshire. The company has extensive experience working with towns to leverage a federal tax credit not available directly to municipalities. The Power Purchase Agreement and lease arrangement enable ReVision to pass the tax credit savings along to the municipality (municipalities are not taxable entities so cannot take advantage of tax credits). Lincolnville and Rockport have successful solar PPAs with ReVision Energy, as does the Camden Hills High School.

12. Why do we need a Town vote and what exactly will we be voting on?
The Town must have permission of the voters in order to enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with ReVision Energy.