The sun is shining on a compromise between the city of Concord and a local farmer.
In March, the Concord City Council okayed a solar field near the Hall Street wastewater treatment plant. The vote allowed SolarCity Corp. to build up to two 1.92 million kilowatt-hour solar arrays, which was projected to save the city as much as $2 million in energy costs over 20 years.
The same land, however, has been leased to Green Gold Farm of Pembroke for more than two decades for haying and planting. The two arrays would take up a large chunk of the farmland, rendering it unusable. While the farm’s owner, Keith Richard, did not speak publicly about the issue, other local farmers admonished the city council for taking over agricultural land.
“Every acre and square foot of farmland matters,” David Murray, co-owner of Murray Farms Greenhouse, told the council in March. “They are not making good land anymore. . . . We do have a certain responsibility to take care of what we’ve got. Because pretty soon, we’re going to have a little bit less and a little bit less. And later, it will be gone.”
So the city found an alternative.
Instead, SolarCity will construct just one 1-megawatt array on Hall Street. The projected savings will be less over 20 years – about $617,000 with a single array, rather than $1.97 million with two. But it will be placed on a different part of the property not used for agriculture, so the impact on the farmland is essentially negligible. Richard did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
“The farmer that is currently leasing from us is still going to have the use of the majority of the land that is workable for him,” said Brian LeBrun, the deputy city manager for finance. “We’re going down to a 1-megawatt (array). It seems like this is a win-win.”
Concord will not own the panels or be responsible for maintaining them, but it would buy electricity generated there. The city signed a 20-year agreement, which sets the price of electricity slightly less than the current price. With rates at historic lows, LeBrun said downsizing the project should still mean long-term savings.
“This is a great hedge over the next 20 years, because we have no idea what energy rates are going to be in 12 to 24 months,” LeBrun said. “If the rates for electricity go up over the 20 years, but we have a fixed rate, . . . we’ve hedged over substantial increases.”
SolarCity will also pay property taxes on the arrays, which will likely add up to $200,000 over 20 years.
Ward 5 Councilor Rob Werner, who serves as chairman of the city’s energy and environment advisory committee, called the deal “a balance.”
“Certainly, I’m happy with the end product,” Werner said. “We’re moving ahead with a major solar project. We’d always like to have more capacity.”
With the contract between Concord and SolarCity signed, Green Gold Farm has also finalized another one-year lease agreement for the land. Richard, paid about $1,800 last year for its lease and taxes. This year, LeBrun said that number will increase to $3,510.
While some permitting still needs to take place, construction on the solar array should begin this fall after the farming season ends.
(Megan Doyle can be reached at 369-3321, mdoyle@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @megan_e_doyle.)