Residents to consider one of largest solar projects in Maine

Nov 10, 2024

Project planners say the solar array would provide the town 'a significant influx of new revenue the town can put toward its general fund without requiring any new town services.'

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GREENE — Town residents will once again be asked to decide if they want to accept a large solar array project that planners say would bring money and jobs to the town.

Swift Current Energy’s so-called Greene Apple Solar Project would spend roughly $200 million dollars setting up solar arrays across 600 acres that would connect to the Central Maine Power grid system, with the potential to power the equivalent of 30,500 Maine households annually.

Swift Current, in its project documentation, lists the benefits the town would reap if voters ultimately accept the plan. For starters, the Greene Apple Project would result in payments totaling millions of dollars in new revenue to the town over the 20-30 year life of the project.

On Nov. 18, Greene voters will be asked to weigh in on an amendment to the existing town solar ordinance that would limit the size of any solar systems in town to 15 acres and would impose other restrictions on the size and location of the solar arrays.

The Greene Planning Board initiated the proposed amendment in response to heavy opposition to the latest plan among residents.

For Swift Current, the success of that amendment would be a deal breaker.

“If the proposed amendment to the solar ordinance is passed, the Greene Apple Solar Project will not be built,” according to project documentation, “and the town and residents will lose out on the substantial benefits described above.”

Project planners expect to pay more than $2 million to the town in the first year of operations and then approximately $1 million each year. The town’s current tax budget is around $2 million.

Thopse planners say the solar array would provide the town “a significant influx of new revenue the town can put toward its general fund without requiring any new town services.”

Massachusetts-based Swift Current also expects the plan would generate 150 full-time jobs during construction and three to five full-time jobs once the project is in operation. The project would also provide improvements to several town roads, including Coburn Road and two private roads, North Hills Ridge and North Ridge Road.

A Community Benefit Fund would bring in another $150,000 annually to the town, according to project documentation.

Additionally, planners say, “the project will deliver clean, on-peak renewable power to the state of Maine at a cost-effective and reliable price, allowing Maine to reduce its carbon emissions.”

The solar array would be placed on private property; large parcels owned by George Schott and Vista of Maine. The project would cover 600-plus acres along the CMP corridor, from North Hills Ridge Road, near Vista of Maine, across Sawyer Road near the horse stable, along Bull Run Road to the property just across the Dead River.

The plan being proposed this time is slightly different from the one town residents overwhelmingly rejected in 2022. That project, also by Swift Current, called for a solar array on town property.

Greene, and many other Maine towns of it size, have historically rejected plans for large-scale solar arrays.

“They don’t like the looks of these endless fields of solar panels,” said Greene Code Enforcement Officer Brent Armstrong. “This is going to be a huge project, and I think that’s worked against Swift Current in a way. The people have had time to digest just how big this is.”

“Everyone in town here who is opposed to the plan are well aware of what they don’t like about it,” said Armstrong. “I’m hoping what they’ll at least consider is that this would be a huge revenue source for the town with no demand on resources.”

How the people of Greene will vote is anybody’s guess.

In 2022, residents voted down a measure that would have authorized the town to enter into a lease agreement and an associated easement agreement with Greene Apple Solar Power, a subsidiary of Swift Current Energy.

During that vote, residents were largely against leasing the land to Greene Apple Solar Power because they wanted the land to be developed for recreation fields instead, as town officials suggested when the land was purchased several years ago.

Whether voters are swayed by the fact that the currently proposed arrays would be on private land remains to be seen.

The darker shaded areas in the larger image show where solar panels would be located in the proposed project. The inset map, upper left, shows the location of the parcels of land on which the solar panels would be placed.

On the Citizens of Greene Facebook page, a thread on the topic of the solar project garnered more than 100 comments from locals with concerns about the proposal. Among those comments were concerns that the arrays would negatively impact the local environment in a variety of ways, including soil erosion and the disruption of natural habitats and wildlife migration patterns.

Many deemed solar arrays in general as “an eyesore” and one that would diminish the charm of the town and possibly drop property values.

“Our pretty little town will be turned into the largest solar plant in the state of Maine,” one woman cautioned.

Others questioned whether solar power would still be considered practical years down the road, while some feared that their power bills would go up instead of down as a result of the project.

Armstrong, tasked with getting information out to the public ahead of the Nov. 18 meeting, worries that people may be undervaluing the amount of money the project would bring to the town.

“It would take 5,000 single-family homes to make up that kind of revenue,” he said, “and those come with a huge draw on resources. So, I’m hoping that people will at least consider that.”

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