Power and policy
In other June 17 business, the board once again ventured along the often bumpy road toward solar power and electrical independence. At its June 10 meeting, council members entertained the idea of putting solar panels on the roof of the community center while it is being renovated. But that idea is apparently being scrapped altogether in favor of plan to install a 600-kilowatt solar generation farm, likely at the wastewater treatment plant on state Route 212. An alternative location discussed would be at the site of the former town landfill on West Saugerties Road.
The board voted to send out a request for proposals to build the solar farm. The town would review proposals, which may include outright purchase of the equipment, financing it over time, or having it provided in a power purchase agreement. The equipment would feed solar energy back into the power grid and the power generated would result in a credit on the town’s Central Hudson bills.
Under a power purchase agreement, or PPA, the town would pay a guaranteed amount for power over the span of the agreement, usually 20 years. This isn’t the first time the town has explored a PPA. Last year, the town scrapped plans to enter an agreement with Kingston firm SolarTech after discovering the electricity generated would come at a $20,000 yearly premium over Central Hudson.
Wilber has proposed a similar, but smaller system that can feed excess energy back into the grid, but Panza doesn’t see the point in feeding electrons into a “dirty” system mixed with coal, natural gas, nuclear and other technologies. “The size of the system should be tailored to the requirements of the wastewater treatment plant, which would make it about a 200-kilowatt system rather than 600,” Panza said. “The extra power just goes to the grid and it doesn’t provide any benefit to Woodstock at all, where just supplying the wastewater treatment plant could actually reduce the electricity pulls from the grid for the operation of the plant down to zero.”
Panza also took exception to the possible use of solar trackers, panels that are designed to move with the sun. The trackers were purchased by the town about 10 years ago, but never used. “I think if we’re going to build a new system, we ought to just build a whole new system with the current technology, and not try and mix something that’s 10 years [old] and been stored in the garage, that may or may not work with new and current technology.”
Wilber countered that a bigger project is better in the long run and the town can lead by example by promoting solar power. “We as a people, as a nation of this world, really have to endeavor toward cleaner energy, toward renewable energy,” Wilber said. “It’s true the electrons that are generated…just go into a vast pool of electrons. It doesn’t guarantee that one single electron generated from this system will go into any light in our municipality. But it will go into somebody’s light. That electron will have been generated from the sun, and not from coal or nuclear or natural gas or oil. It’s 600 kilowatts of electricity that will be consumed no matter by whom. But instead of it being dirty, it’ll be clean.”
Wilber further countered that the issue with sizing a system so to only accommodate the sewage treatment plant “means that instead of 4,000 taxable parcels in the town of Woodstock being part of this adventure, the entire burden would fall on the 412 properties in the hamlet sewer district.”
But Panza, unconvinced, said, “There’s no reason to dump all this onto the grid and say, well, someone’s going to get the advantage of it.”
Also at issue, said Panza, is the removal of trees necessary for the building of a solar farm at the treatment plant. “That forest represents about 50 years of sequestered carbon,” Panza said. “When you clear-cut that, it will be 17 or 18 years before it even becomes carbon neutral.” Panza ultimately abstained from the vote to send out RFPs for the project, but voted for amending the requests to include the former landfill.
Councilwoman Cathy Magarelli agreed with Wilber. “If we produce more than we use, there are other communities out there that will be purchasing it, so it won’t be going to waste,” she said.
“Another potential advantage is no one knows what the future price of energy is going to be,” Wilber said. He also noted the board reserves the right to reject all proposals if it doesn’t deem the solar farm project feasible.
