Community Corner
Council OKs Solar Water Treatment Plant at Mt. Higby Reservoir
The agreement is expected to save Middletown taxpayers $359,000 in electricity costs over the next two decades through Connecticut Light & Power's renewable energy credit program.
The common council on Monday approved an agreement with a Middletown-based solar energy company to install a water treatment plant on city land near the Mt. Higby Reservoir, according to the Hartford Courant.
The paper also says the city will buy 100 percent of the power generated for the next 20 years, a Greenskies Renewable Energy project expected to be completed by spring.
The approved contract, according to the Courant, is expected to save taxpayers $359,000 in electricity costs over the next two decades, and will be funded by Connecticut Light & Power's Low and Zero Emissions Renewable Energy Credit Program.
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The plan, according to Middletown Mayor Dan Drew, will virtually take the plant's carbon footprint away.
Approved CL&P customers who install new, qualifying renewable energy projects can sell the qualified renewable energy credits created to CL&P under a long-term, 15-year contract, according to the utility.
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The electricity generated through the agreement with Greenskies will power the Charles B. Bacon Water Treatment Plant at the reservoir, the Middletown Press reports.
The complex would produce about 254,000 kilowatt hours per year — equal to the electric usage of 26 homes or the carbon dioxide emissions from 153 vehicles annually, the Press reports.
Last January, Drew said the installation of solar panels at the city-owned Remington Rand building would save up to $70,000 in electricity costs in the first year alone thorough a Greenskies power purchase agreement.
In April 2013, the company announced solar installations designed and built by Greenskies had produced more than 5 million kilowatt hours of electricity, a milestone for the company.
Also at Monday's meeting, the common council approved the purchase of $1.93 million in bonds to rehabilitate the Main Street water main north of Washington Street, the Courant and Press report.
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