The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
N. Branford’s solar plan a ‘good use of the property’
NORTH BRANFORD — A plan for a solar farm on Forest Road carries with it elements also expected to benefit the local environment: Energy cost savings for the town and money toward remedial work on other sites. The plan, which has the support of Economic Development Coordinator Roger Salway, would allow the town to save money on its
electricity bills through a virtual net metering program that would give it a discount for having the array in town, he said.
North Branford would save roughly $120,000 annually for 25 years, according to Salway, though that number is an estimate.
He said he hopes the project will be operational by late summer, noting that sunflowers will surround the array, which also will supply free electricity to an adjacent farm.
Salway said he’s “proud” of the project.
Cela Bernie is managing partner of Citrine Power, a Connecticut-based business that invests in renewable energy projects throughout the Northeast and will be responsible for installing the array.
According to Bernie, power from the array would be fed for free to the utility company, which then gives a discount to the municipality at a “high virtual net metering rate.”
In turn, the municipality has a private contract with Citrine at a rate “much lower” than what it gets credited, she said.
A virtual net metering program benefits the town although the solar array would go on privatelyowned property, Salway said
Other benefits
Salway said the issue of possible remediation work to benefit other sites arose when the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection was approached to green-light the solar array.
The site slated for the array is owned by Mark DiLungo, through his company What TF LLC. According to Robert Isner, who directs the DEEP’s Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division, the land was previously the site of allegedly unauthorized solid waste management under a different owner.
The eastern portion of a parcel at 127 Forest Road marks the proposed solar array site, according to Salway.
“It’s a piece of scrubby land that was not being used. It had been abandoned many years ago,” he said. “This particular owner was thinking about building a housing development on it.”
Instead, Citrine and the town approached DiLungo about installing a solar farm.
“It was presented by the town, and (DiLungo) thought he could be helpful to the town (which is) going to apparently acquire the energy from the solar farm,” said Ann Catino, an attorney who represents DiLungo.
“He thought this was a very good use of the property,” Catino said.
DiLungo reached an agreement with DEEP that helps the solar plan move forward. Through it, 90 percent of revenue he receives from leasing his land to Citrine Power would go toward environmental work on some of his other properties, including three on Totoket Road, the agreement says.
Catino said the arrangement is a “positive move forward.”
“(It) will provide some necessary funds so that the other properties can be addressed,” she said. “It’s a win-win-win-win all around.”
Catino said her client “didn’t cause any of these issues or contribute to them,” but has done a lot of work on the properties since acquiring them.
Salway said testing concluded the location of the proposed solar installation is not contaminated and Isner also said the section of land slated for the solar array installation “does not appear to have extensive environmental conditions on it.”
According to Isner, any potential solid waste materials on the properties “need to be removed and properly disposed of,” and the sites need to be evaluated for contaminants.
Catino said her client has done extensive cleanup on the properties and “they look completely different than they did previously.”
But she agreed the properties needed to be assessed.