#solar-energy

Camden, Hope, Rockport schools among five districts drawing solar power from Livermore Falls array
Sat, 03/26/2022 - 10:00am

A recently completed solar project in Livermore Falls is the first in Maine to provide most (96%) of its solar energy to public schools in the state. The 14,040-panel array is expected to produce roughly 6,478,200 kilowatt hours of clean energy annually, offsetting more than 6,348,000 pounds of carbon pollution from regional fossil fuel power plants each year, according to a March 22 news release from ReVision Energy. ReVision partnered with Aligned Climate Capital, an investment firm focused...
‘I bought LED bulbs 27 years ago when they were ugly and expensive’
Going Green with David Dickey, owner of the Camden Riverhouse
Sun, 11/21/2021 - 6:45pm

CAMDEN — David Dickey is a hands-on guy. He describes himself as a "maintenance man." When I tried to arrange an interview with him, he told me: "I can't, I'm busy repairing a toilet. The porcelain lasts forever, so I just replace the insides." David is nothing but pragmatic. David has maintained the Camden Riverhouse Hotel , the Extended Stay Inn, and the Cottage and Suites at 8 Tannery Lane for 27 years. The receptionist's mother worked for David's grandfather. He recognizes...
‘Opinion: Building power plants and running power lines all over is nuts. We need to be developing sources of electricity near where it is used’
Going Green with John Fancy at the Thomaston Wastewater Plant
Tue, 10/19/2021 - 3:30pm

THOMASTON — John Fancy is the chief engineer for the Thomaston Wastewater Treatment Plant. He has worked for the city for 32 years and has fought pollution in Waldoboro county for 50 years. John has just initiated and seen to completion a solar farm that will power the wastewater plant as well as the Thomaston fire station, town office, public works and street lights. Maine Municipal Bond Bank financed the solar array with a 15-year loan at 1.69% interest. It will be paid for in 15 years. For...
opinion
AIO Food Pantry goes green
Tue, 10/05/2021 - 10:00am

The AIO Food Pantry, in Rockland, has flipped the switch to sustainable energy with the installation of 100 solar panels. As Joe Ryan, the executive director said; “Our solar project is a continuation of our founding mission that goes back over 30 years. We are be a demonstration of what we can do as a community and the solar project is a high visibility example, just as our gardens are. We are about more than food and energy assistance, we are making a positive difference in...
Going green with Valli Geiger and Greg Marley
Sun, 09/26/2021 - 11:00am

“How do we all look after each other?” Valli Geiger asks. That seems to be the question that drives Valli and Greg's lives. Greg Marley is the director of suicide prevention for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Valli served on the Rockland City Council for six years before getting elected to serve as state representative for Rockland and Owl's Head. She also works two days a week at LincolnHealth in the chemotherapy department. It is apparent that they both walk their talk. Valli...
opinion: Dual-use farmland is an important tool for diversifying a farmer's income
Going green with Alan Robertson of BlueWave Solar
Fri, 09/17/2021 - 8:00am

ROCKPORT —A new blueberry solar farm is ready to come online in a field near Route 17, close to Maces Pond. The blueberry farm is owned by David Dickey. When Alan approached Dickey about using his blueberry farm as a solar farm, David insisted, “Only if I can still grow blueberries.” That is what BlueWave Solar does, combining photovoltaics and agriculture. It is managed by Navisun LLC. It sits on approximately 12 acres and makes enough power for about 800 homes. Ten thousand, six hundred and...
Rooftop solar array, subdivision proposal also heard
Street Food proposal gets aired before Rockport Planning Board
Sun, 06/27/2021 - 8:00pm

ROCKPORT — On June 24 the Rockport Planning Board gave consideration to a pre-application submitted by Stephanie Turner to operate a take-out food business from a 20’x20’ building at 330 Commercial Street, the property on the corner of Pascal Avenue and Commercial Street (Route 1.) The board requested the applicant return with revised site maps and additional materials before a change of use could be granted to allow a food business at the location. The meeting also included the approval by of...
Belfast, China solar developments recipient of $22.3 million loan guarantees from USDA
Tue, 02/23/2021 - 8:15pm

USDA Rural Development is investing $22,300,000 through loan guarantees for solar renewable energy projects in Belfast and China through its Rural Energy for America Program (REAP).Two solar businesses will receive a total of $22,300,000 in funding through Rural Energy for America Program Loan Guarantees, in partnership with the lender, Crestmark, A Division of Meta Bank: Perkins Road Belfast Solar LLC, located in Belfast, will receive a total of $11,100,000 to refinance a...
Waldoboro solar project gets USDA $4.69 million loan
Mon, 02/08/2021 - 11:45am
The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is investing $17.6 million through loan guarantees for solar renewable energy projects in Maine through its Rural Energy for America Program, and a Waldoboro privately-owned venture will receive $4 .76 million of that total. For these loans, the federal government is working with the lender Crestmark, A Division of Meta Bank. The projects are: Pequawket Trail Baldwin Solar, LLC, located in Baldwin, will receive $10.9 million to refinance a short-...
Rockport’s Planning Board to consider village hotel findings of fact, two Route 17 solar power farms
Thu, 05/21/2020 - 12:15pm

ROCKPORT — The Planning Board in Rockport has several large-scale projects under consideration, and this evening, May 21, it will address aspects of the proposed downtown 26-room Rockport hotel, a five-unit apartment building in Glen Cove, and two industrial solar energy farms targeted for separate spots along Route 17. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m., and will be streamed live at https://livestream.com/Rockportmaine . Board members will convene via Zoom. At its May 11 meeting, the...
could roll back net metering and unravel one of Gov. Mills’ key efforts to boost clean energy
Petition threatens to derail solar incentives across New England
Tue, 05/19/2020 - 7:45pm

As the coronavirus pandemic ripples across the world, the solar energy industry faces a threat in the shadows. The New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) recently introduced a petition to change the industry’s regulatory structures and reduce the amount of money solar users receive for the energy they produce but do not use. NERA, a New Hampshire-based organization that has previously opposed clean-energy legislation in the Granite State, filed the petition with the Federal Energy Regulatory...
Meeting this evening
UPDATED AGENDA: Rockport to consider solar farm rules; two applications received for separate Route 17 ventures
Mon, 05/11/2020 - 8:00am

ROCKPORT — This evening, May 11, the Rockport Select Board will discuss solar land use regulations, and possibly involve the town’s Ordinance Review Committee to take on the task of crafting guidelines. Since last March, the town has received two applications to site solar farms on separate parcels off of Route 17, prompting the town’s Planning Board Chairman Joe Sternowski to write to two Select Board members April 29. The Select Board meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes a vote of whether...
Rockland considers signing on to Skowhegan solar farm project
Thu, 04/02/2020 - 12:15pm

ROCKLAND — The City of Rockland is deciding whether to take advantage of an incentive program for solar energy. City councilors have been told that estimated municipal savings could reach $140,000 for Rockland in 2020, if they commit to a contract that is being presented as a first-come, first serve offer. ReVision Energy is building a solar power farm in Skowhegan for municipalities only, with federal dollars being funded by the USDA Rural Development, which provides financial backing for...
Project sited for 16 acres off of Route 17 near Mace’s Pond
Rockport solar farm proponents to hold informational meeting
Mon, 12/09/2019 - 5:00pm

ROCKPORT — Boyle Associates and Pine Gate Renewables, the two companies working together to site a 2-megawatt solar farm on 16 acres of Rockport land, are holding a a community open house and informational meeting about the project. The meeting is to take place Dec. 18, 5 to 7:30 p.m., in the Geoffrey C. Parker Meeting Room at the Rockport Opera House. The meeting is to be streamed. Boyle Associates was hired by Pine Gate Renewables of Ashville, North Carolina. While Pine Gate is the developer...
Solar array takes form in Hope Center field
Hope invites the sunshine in
Mon, 11/25/2019 - 1:15pm

HOPE — The sun has work to do in Hope, where a new solar array built on an open field near the town office will gather its energy into the waiting cells and convert it to electricity, helping the town reduce its power bills, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels. The Nov. 22 installation of the panels was marked by a celebration in the field by students of Sweetland School, an independent K-7 school that is just up the road. That day, a crew from ReVision Energy, a Liberty-based, employee-owned...
16-acre solar farm would run alongside Rockland Street (Route 17)
Planning Board mulls over proposed solar project in Rockport
Fri, 11/22/2019 - 5:00pm

The Rockport Planning Board conducted a pre-application review of a proposal to develop a 16-acre parcel of land near Mace’s Pond along Route 17 into a 2-megawatt solar farm. Dale Knapp, a principal at Boyle Associates, environmental consultants based in Portland, spoke on behalf of the project along with Chris Byers, senior program manager in the company’s solar division. “The project is the result of LD 1711 which seeks to promulgate small, distributed generation solar projects across the...
Rockport to consider 15 acre utility solar project proposal, continue review of Village hotel plans
Mon, 11/18/2019 - 1:00pm

ROCKPORT — A new limited liability company established in mid-October, Samoset Solar LLC, hopes to generate electrical power with a proposed solar farm sited just off of Route 17 near Maces Pond. Samoset Solar LLC asking the town’s permission to develop 15 acres for the project. According to the parent company proposing the project — Pine Gate Renewables , of Ashville, North Carolina — the lot is “recently harvested forestland,” and has a right of way, “thus lessening the need...
board member Pete Orne raises questions
Five Town School Board votes 7 to 1 to shape a solar farm contract agreement
Wed, 07/31/2019 - 9:30am

CAMDEN — The Five Town CSD School Board, which governs Camden Hills Regional High School, voted 7 to 1 at a special meeting July 29 to pursue a contract with ReVision Energy, of Liberty, to construct a 1.5 to 1.8 megawatt solar farm on a portion of land owned by the CSD on Route 90 in Rockport. The Five Town CSD comprises Appleton, Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport, whose taxpayers fund the public high school. ReVision Energy and investment group Aligned Climate Capital LLC would be the...
Special meeting, July 29, with Revision Energy
Private entities pitch building 2,000,000 kWh solar farm on Camden Hills Regional High School campus
Fri, 07/26/2019 - 12:30pm

ROCKPORT — The Five Town CSD Board of Directors will convene July 29 to consider a proposal initiated by the private company ReVision Energy and investment group Aligned Climate Capital LLC to site a solar farm on currently wooded land on the Camden Hills Regional High School 100-acre parcel on Route 90 in Rockport. The meeting takes place at 6 p.m. at the Bus Barn, off of Knowlton Street in Camden; the one agenda item: Possible Approval of a solar energy farm on the CHRHS...
Hope voters to consider powering municipal buildings with solar energy
Thu, 03/21/2019 - 8:30am

HOPE — At a March 26 Special Town Meeting, voters in Hope will be asked to allocate funds to conduct an energy audit of three of the municipality’s buildings for the potential installation of heat pump retrofits. If this measure passes, voters will also be asked to give authority to the Board of Selectmen and the Hope Solar Committee to review the audit alongside Hope Solar Committee to negotiate a potential Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a solar power provider. ...