Net savings for Peterborough array about $10K under projection

After a year online, what are the results of the 942-megawatt, 3,088 panel solar installation installed on town land?

Not as much return as anticipated, but still a net gain for the town, explained the town’s assessing clerk, Leo Smith, during a Select Board meeting on Tuesday.

“If we look at the solar array itself, it’s generated 1.2 million megawatt hours,” said Smith.

Of that, the town — which does not own the solar array, but leases the land it’s built on and has a contract to purchase energy from it to power the waste water plant and other town buildings — purchased 22 percent of the power produced at a reduced price of 8 cents per kilowatt hour. 

The ultimate net savings in energy costs for the waste water plant is in the past year is approximately $10,000, said Smith. In addition to that, the town receives a $4,000 payment in lieu of taxes per year for the array, resulting in a total of $14,000 in offsetting electricity costs. That’s about $10,000 less than anticipated, said Smith.

However, he reminded the board, the town does not have to worry about a return on investment from the array, as the project was built with a combination of a Public Utilities Grant and private funds from the developer, not with Peterborough taxpayer funds or loans or bonds. 

Also, added Town Administrator Rodney Bartlett, even in the year that the array has been in operation, the rules regarding solar arrays and selling electricity generated by them have changed several times, and will likely continue to do so, which may impact future returns. 

Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.