SOLAR FARM PLAN PROPOSED

TO SAVE COUNTY $100K A YEAR

By JIM KEVLIN • allotsego.com

COOPERSTOWN – The county Board of Representatives this morning heard a presentation on a 10-acre solar farm on Route 11 north of Laurens predicted to save the county $100,000 on its annual utility bill.

Daniel Leary of SolarCity, Cranbury, N.J., proposed a “power purchase agreement” on the project at a former gravel pit that, through “remote rural metering,” would allow the county to offset 20 percent of its electrical bill for 20 years.

The plant would generate 2.7 million KW hours per year, slightly less than half of what the county uses today.

But Doug Czerkies, director of the county Building Services Department, said the sale of Otsego Manor will remove 3 million Kw hours from the annual 6 million load, meaning the solar farm would be generating the equivalent of all the county’s usage.

The county only gets a 20 percent reduction because the rest of the revenues will be used to pay off SolarCity’s investment and compensate the company.

Leary was introduced to the board by former county representative Ron Feldstein, now president of MEGA (the Municipal Electric & Gas Alliance), that already provides low-cost electricity and natural gas to Otsego and other counties.

If the county board approves the plan – it may vote on a resolution at its November meeting – the farm could be operational by next spring.

“I sounds like one of these deals that are too good to be true,” said county Rep. Jim Powers, R-Butternuts. “Are we missing anything?”

But Czerkies said, “It’s a win-win situation. We still have to buy electricity, but we’re buying it as a lower rate.”

The county board’s Solid Waste & Environmental Concerns Committee, chaired by county Rep. Linda Rowinski, D-Oneonta, will vet the proposal later this month and prepare the resolution for the full board. The proposal to date is being handled by the county Department of Planning, Solid Waste & Economic Development.