BREAKING NEWS: Council votes to seek alternative to Higgins Pit solar array
BAR HARBOR - May 22, 2024 - As expected, the Town Council last night shelved the $5 million project to build a municipal solar farm on 40 acres of brown field on Rt. 3.
Councilman Gary Friedmann, principal supporter of the project, actually made the motion which was passed unanimously “to designate the town manager to pursue other options for reducing the town's emissions and generating renewable electricity that would ultimately achieve the same objectives as Higgins Pit.
“It's not easy for me to make this motion,” Friedmann said. “I've been working with A Climate to Thrive, and then with previous town managers and staff on this for seven years and and that was after Cornell Knight and staff did a thorough inventory of all town properties, and even looking at Town parcels that were in holdings in Acadia National Park.
“And the particular problem that we face in Versant territory, is that Versant right now has the worst reputation in the Northeast if not the nation, for interconnection of solar.
“Versant has raised the price by a third … anything that we do elsewhere is going to have the same challenges. So in making this motion. I don't suggest that it's going to be easy for the town manager and staff to identify other places.
“The low hanging fruit is every single rooftop that the town owns and the schools should be covered with solar panels.
“And there's one other thought that I want to leave you with which is that there's there's this thought about return on investment.
“And certainly when investors are looking for projects, that's the bottom line, return on investment.
“But that's not the way municipalities work. We don't judge anything that we do based on ROI. Did we do that with Connors Emerson School’s $58 million? Or an additional person on the police force, the fire department … we don't say, well, what's the ROI on on these investments?
“We do things because they reflect the values of the town and what we think is important. And the climate emergency task force was formed years ago to to raise the awareness that we have a climate emergency and to do everything possible.
“I'm realizing that this project has gotten to the point where it's not a good bet. There's still too many unknowns for me to be comfortable with. This idea about what's the right ROI and comparing it to other types of projects … I don't think that's how we're going to successfully address the climate crisis.”
The project came in at $700,000 more than the $4.35 million bond approved by voters after Versant same in with a connection price almost double what was budgeted and the access road to the site required previously unreported environmental challenges posed by nearby wetlands and vernal pools.
Another case of the town going and doing something without really knowing what they are getting into. I am glad I did not vote for that bond. By the way, has anyone figured out what to do with those worn out solar panels when they are end of life? Another upcoming issue....
Good day Kyle, thanks for your reply. I am disappointed that the town commits financially to something without having the facts. I do not believe we should spend good money after bad. With the price of real estate on the island, why does the town not sell this property? It may then be developed privately, possibly for solar endeavors as originally thought. The fundamental issues with solar are that it only works at the expense of higher rates for all and creates a major environmental disposal problem at end of life which nobody is addressing (lets forget that it greatly benefits Communist China as a supplier). I certainly hope that more due diligence was done for the much larger school project!!