A proposed solar project in Orrington would generate almost all of the electricity needed for the town’s school, and the town says taxpayers won’t have to foot the bill.
Plans for a solar array to be built next to Center Drive School, one of three schools in AOS 47, the school district serving Airline, Dedham and Orrington, were revealed in a Thursday meeting.
The solar array would be made of just four rows of panels but would eventually generate enough electricity to power the school and parts of other town buildings, Orrington Town Manager Chris Backman said.
Orrington is constructing a town-owned solar array while other Maine communities, including its neighboring city, Brewer, have enforced moratoriums, or pauses, on solar projects. Brewer’s moratorium, which has been continuously extended since 2023, was put in place so city staff could learn more about solar technology and the rules for developing the projects.
In contrast, Orrington’s solar ordinance has one of its purposes listed as; “to encourage the development of on-site energy production and consumption.”
This project will not cost Orrington taxpayers because a $850,000 grant from Bluewave Energy, the company that previously installed a solar array in the East Orrington Business Park, covers the costs for the first three rows of panels, Backman said.
The grant was part of Bluewave’s lease agreement with the town for the land their solar panels were erected on, Backman said, but was not triggered until the solar farm went online in 2024.
The grant does not affect how much the town is paid through the lease or the taxes collected on the land, but is the result of a “misunderstanding” between the company that Backman said was before his time as town manager. He did not say what exactly happened for the grant to be awarded to the town.
The project will “immediately” benefit the town by lowering electric bills, Backman said.
The proposed array would generate 80-85% of the school’s electrical needs in its first year, Backman said.
“About $94,000 is what the budget for the school’s electricity is. This should produce in that $82,000 to $85,000 range with just the three [rows of panels],” Backman said.
The four rows will be built in a cleared area on the west side of the school, said Josh Hogan, a civil engineer with St. Germain, a Westbrook-based environmental engineering company.
The project still requires approval by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, but plans for the first three rows have construction starting and finishing during Center Drive School’s summer break, Hogan said when presenting plans on Thursday.
It was unclear when the fourth row would be installed.
The grant covers the cost for three rows of panels, which the town already bought, and the construction, Backman said. The cost for the fourth row will be covered by clean energy subsidies that the town received approval for before they were discontinued, Backman said.
The delay between the initial rows going online and the fourth being built is also because another permit with Versant Power for increased energy going in the grid has to be approved, Backman said.
Because the project is funded through grants and subsidies, the proposal does not have to be approved by a vote or by the Select Board.
Feedback and questions from the seven residents who attended Thursday’s afternoon hearing were mostly about logistics of the project.
Residents asked about how long the panels will be under warranty, how the landscape would change and if they would produce enough energy to power the school decades from now, but none spoke out in opposition. The town’s solar ordinance, which includes steps for when an array is decommissioned, answered many of the resident’s questions.
The panels have a 25 to 30 year warranty, Hogan and Backman said, but the town would want to keep them on for as long as they’re efficient.
“There’s a benefit to keeping it on as long as possible, as opposed to removing them. I don’t think there would be any plan from the town to remove them after going through this effort,” Hogan said.