Ledyard — The public hearing for two large solar arrays on town property has been set for April 27, though construction of the arrays will be a few years down the road, according to developer Greenskies Renewable Energy.
The Middletown-based company came to the town in December of last year with a proposal to develop roughly 8,000 6-foot solar panels on town-owned property along power lines at 1087 Colonel Ledyard Highway, as well as another 8,000 at the town's capped former landfill at 889R Colonel Ledyard Highway.
The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was authorized in 2015 to solicit bids for clean energy infrastructure, and direct electric distribution companies to enter into contracts for selected proposals.
A request for proposals was recently issued for small scale renewable energy projects between two to 20 megawatts. Greenskies intends to submit the pair of projects by the May 4 deadline. James DeSantos, vice president of business development at Greenskies, said his firm probably won't know the project is approved until December.
The company has worked on a mix of commercial and utility-scale solar projects, the largest of which is a five-megawatt facility in East Lyme.
The lease is for 15 acres of the landfill property and for 27 acres near the high tension wires, though Greenskies estimates that the actual footprint will occupy between 8-10 acres apiece. The town would receive roughly $1,000 an acre each year, with escalation over the 20-year term of the lease. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Solar farm project proposed in Griswold
GRISWOLD - A Minnesota-based renewable energy company's plan for a $20 million solar farm project won't bring jobs to Griswold but it could generate some revenue for the town. Ecos Energy LLC, a renewable energy development and services company, wants to build a 30-acre solar farm on vacant land at 1219 and 1240 Voluntown Road, also known as Route 138. Tom Giard, the town's Economic Development Commission chairman, said the project is an exciting opportunity for the town because it could generate upwards of $250,000 for Griswold each year through the projected tax collection on the property. “It could be a major revenue generator for the tax base,” he said. Representatives from the state's Siting Council, Ecos and the town will take part in a field inspection of the property at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Residents interested in learning more about the project are encouraged to attend. Giard said news of the project comes at a time when the town and borough are seeing more businesses setting up shop. In the past four months, three businesses have opened storefronts in downtown Jewett City."We’re really excited about this (development)," he said.Calls to Ecos Energy representatives went unanswered.According to its website, Ecos Energy owns or is developing solar projects in Minnesota, Georgia, Indiana, California, Vermont and Massachusetts. Solar farms generate electricity that is then sold to energy companies. In this case, Ecos would generate energy to be sold to Eversource, which provides electricity and natural gas to residents throughout the state. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
NTE opening Killingly generating facility
A new natural gas-fired electric generating facility will be opening in Killingly. It is one of three in the Eastern U.S. announced by NTE Energy.
The Killingly Energy Center is slated to be approximately 500 megawatts when fully online. It will be capable of powering approximately 450,000 homes and represents an investment of over $500 million.
It is expected to provide approximately 300 construction jobs. Once open there will be 25 full-time positions during operation. It is scheduled to begin construction between 2017 and 2018, and reach full commercial operation between 2020 and 2021.
Including two other locations in Ohio and North Carolina, these facilities represent a total investment of approximately $2 billion. The company said they will be three of the most reliable, efficient and clean sources of capacity and energy in the eastern United States, employing advanced turbine technology in combined cycle configurations.
Could CT see another wave of sprawl?
A decade ago the state's Council on Environmental Quality announced that the worst environmental problem facing the state was “sprawl" — low-density, auto-centric, poorly planned development — because it increased air and water pollution and turned forests and farmland into strip malls and subdivisions.
The CEQ statement was part of a broader, if belated, realization that the suburban development that spread over the Connecticut countryside in the decades after World War II — progress, it was thought at the time — came at a cost.
In addition to the environmental challenges, sprawl demanded new infrastructure and increased the cost of services. It isolated poor and senior citizens, limited housing variety and even, by increasing car dependence, added to the obesity problem.
Growing awareness of these issues led to efforts to better manage growth. There was a blue-ribbon commission, public forums, a new citizen’s group called 1000 Friends of Connecticut and some new laws.
Shortly after this burst of activity came the Great Recession, which slowed sprawl to a crawl.
But now the downturn has grudgingly turned around, and development is ramping up.
Does this mean the state’s remaining undeveloped areas will be hit with another wave of sprawl?
They could, though most probably not at the postwar level. Though some of the measures taken a decade ago have encouraged so-called “smart growth” — the concentration of development in town centers and transit corridors to protect open land — factors such as weak planning and heavy dependence on property taxes still encourage sprawl. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The groups praised Congress for recently passing transportation and tax bills but said the difficulty recruiting workers threatened to undermine the economic benefits. “By restoring near-term certainty to federal transportation programs and tax policy through passage of the FAST and PATH Acts in late 2015, Congress has set the stage for growth in construction, manufacturing, and business purchasing,” the letter said. “However, as companies prepare to take advantage of new opportunities, they are confronted with a new challenge: a shortage of skilled technical workers.”
The letter from construction, contractor, supplier and labor organizations highlighted the stark findings of a recently-released study sponsored by the AED Foundation. That report, prepared by researchers at the College of William and Mary, found the equipment technician shortage is costing dealers approximately $2.4 billion per year in lost revenue and economic activity. Citing a lack of “hard skills” as the top reason technician positions are going unfilled, the study noted that vacancies at construction equipment dealerships remain open for longer than three times the national average. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE