OurGeneration Solar gives presentation in St. Armand

BLOOMINGDALE | Not even a torrential downpour could stop St. Armand town officials and a few local residents from hearing more about the proposed solar farm during the July 21 meeting. That evening, OurGeneration, a small community solar project developer, gave a presentation on the proposed 10-megawatt solar farm that would be developed on Mark Trudeau's property on the west side of State Route 3. If approved, the solar farm, which would be broken up into two different sections, would provide clean, affordable, local electricity for approximately 1,500 homes, potentially resulting in $200,000 in savings in the first year. During the presentation, both town officials and residents expressed their concerns. One concern was the noise levels, in relation to the surrounding properties. Once built, there would be only two sources of noise — the inverters and transformers. Those noises would only be made during the day, as the solar panels wouldn't be operating at night. OurGeneration Solar also developed artist renderings that showed other ways the noise would be minimized, which can be accomplished through the location of equipment, fencing, and landscape buffers. Another concern was how it would impact the surrounding environment. According to OurGeneration Solar, no chemicals, oils, or fertilizers will be used in operations, and there will be no harmful or toxic chemicals or leachate from panels, even if they were to be damaged. "There are different types of solar panels out there that use chemical compounds between the glass, but those are because of their power density. They're usually used on mega farms out in the desert because they're cheaper, and they need a lot more land space," said Dan Leary, who is the managing partner at OurGeneration Solar along with Elie Schecter. "Every solar product you've ever seen in New York State on a person's home, commercial building, or out in a field is using polycrystalline, which is the type of panel that doesn't have the chemicals in it that would leach out." The proposed solar farm will also be designed to avoid sensitive areas, like wetlands and species habitats. Instead, there will be continuous sheep grazing; planting of native grasses and trees like various pines and spruces; and pollinator seed mixes to attract bees, birds, foxes, and rabbits. The surrounding fence will keep large animals like deer and livestock out, while allowing the passage of smaller animals. This project would be strictly solar; it would not require large batteries for storing electricity. The Town of St. Armand will be hosting a public hearing regarding this proposed solar farm on Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. On June 22, the town unanimously approved a 12-month moratorium on the construction, operation, and establishment of community solar projects in St. Armand. That same evening, the town also passed a ban on battery energy storage systems (BESS). However, following the presentation, the town rescinded that law, as it never underwent the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR) process, which would help address land-use compatibility, aesthetics, safety standards, and fire hazard mitigation. In the meantime, the one-year moratorium on BESS is still in effect. This moratorium was passed back in February after Carson Power, an energy infrastructure developer based in New York, N.Y., proposed a 20-megawatt facility on private property next to the National Grid substation near the Mount Pisgah Area, adjacent to the Village of Saranac Lake and Town of Harrietstown property lines. Regarding the one-year moratorium on community solar projects, Thurston stated, "We currently don't have anything in place for St. Armand. We don't have zoning; we don't have a building permit for that type of project; and we don't have a local law with any regulations or a decommissioning plan. So, because of all of that, we don't have a mechanism in place to protect residents, property owners, or even commercial businesses. So, we wanted to enact this moratorium to give ourselves time to make sure that we're doing what the majority of the people want." For more information or updates, visit townofstarmandny.gov.

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OurGeneration Solar gives presentation in St. Armand

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