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Contractor Updates Shaftsbury Select Board on 83-acre Solar Project

Posted: August 7, 2024

SHAFTSBURY - The CEO of the company contracted to build an 83-acre solar project on Holy Smoke Road said he expects a decision on approval of the project from the Public Utility Commission (PUC) before the end of the year.

Reed Wills, CEO of SunEast Development, which is headquartered in West Chester, Pa., attended Monday's Select Board meeting by Zoom. He updated the board on recent developments in the project application process before the PUC and the timeline moving forward.

The developer of the controversial 20-megawatt solar generating facility is VT Real Estate Holdings 1 LLC. Wills said those involved expect to be generating electricity in 2026.

The applicants had a hearing before the PUC on July 15. "We're very pleased we've gotten this far," Wills said. "We were told to set aside two days for the hearing. They started at 9:30 and we completed everything in one day."

The process was open and interactive and touched on the host agreement between the developer and the town, he said.

"Everybody sort of knows going into it what the expectations are," Wills said. "It was a good, healthy discussion."

In July 2023, three members of the PUC came to the area to listen to public comment on the project. The sheer size and visibility of the project - covering about 83 acres between Route 7 and Holy Smoke Road - has sparked considerable criticism.

Other concerns have centered around cutting down trees and fragmenting habitat. Opposition has not been universal, however.

The PUC visited the site in August of 2023.

The project is seeking permission to create a special temporary exit off of nearby Route 7 to access the site during construction. Wills said he expects the Vermont Agency of Transportation to issue a permit in 30 to 60 days. "We feel very positive about that," Wills said. "That's very critical to how we will execute this project."

Another issue is a water line that belongs to North Bennington. The line could be about 100 years old, and serves about 700 customers, and replacing it without interrupting service will be one of the things done on the project, he said.

"It will be one of the very first things that we do," Wills said. "I'm sure that's not a surprise."

Another issue is where the power generated will go. Presently, it looks like that will be Connecticut.

"Up until recently there really hasn't been a good mechanism for Vermont utilities, Green Mountain Power in particular, to buy from larger projects," Wills said. "The incentive structure that was set up in current regulations really led to buying all the power they could get from Canada at a very competitive rate."

New legislation passed over Gov. Phil Scott's veto authorizes changes to this situation, but the rulemaking process still has to be completed.

"That process probably won't start for another three or four months, as I understand it, and it may take until the middle of 2025 for all of that to get sorted out," Wills said. "It would be challenging for the project to sort of stay on the sidelines."

Currently, the project is seeking a 20-year contract with the state of Connecticut.

"We don't have flexibility. If we're selected by the state of Connecticut, we'll have a very short time window to make a decision," he said. "And to be candid, we've been working on this for a number of years. We've invested quite a fair amount of capital. It is likely we will proceed with that.

"However, it was a competitive bid process nothing is assured. And if that is not the result, I would think yes our highest priority would be to try to do something locally. I personally work with Green Mountain Power on a regular basis," he said. "We understand what people's thinking is, and we're doing our best."

Wills said he would be updating the Select Board on matters going forward.

"We're getting to the point where hopefully we'll have authority to construct and our engagement with the town will step up quite rapidly," he said. "We're going to make sure this gets done right and do it in a manner that's respectful of the process that we've set out."

"We will look forward to hearing from you with increasing frequency," said Select Board Chair Naomi Miller.

Compliments of: The Bennington Banner
Posted/Author: Mark Rondeau

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