Bar Harbor Task Force Advocates Going Ahead with Higgins Pit Solar Project
Town accepts $220k flood water grant, will start talking about fee schedules
BAR HARBOR—Move forward with the Higgins Pit solar energy project? Check.
Keep the renewable energy credits (RECs) it will generate? Check again.
Last week, the town’s Task Force on the Climate Emergency declared its support for a proposed solar array project and for keeping the credits it will create rather than selling those credits.
At the last Town Council meeting in January, councilors asked for a recommendation about the Higgins Pit Solar Project from the town’s Task Force on the Climate Emergency. The project would create a 0.99 megawatts facility, downsized because of unexpectedly higher costs for the interconnection fee, and was initially approved by voters at the June 2022 town meeting. The town has already made one payment on the bond, which was sold in August 2023. The town procured a $4.35 million bond to support the project.
At the January 16 Town Council meeting, councilors heard an updated presentation on the project by Chris Byers from Branch Renewable Energy and Beth Woolfolk Manager of Renewable Energy Policy and Planning (A Climate To Thrive) and some councilors worried about the project’s costs and energy output.
The Council asked the town’s Task Force on the Climate Emergency to give them an opinion. That opinion came last week in the form of a letter and a presentation by Task Force Chair Ruth Poland.
The project most likely requires a costly road and maintenance to get into the site. The project is expected to saving 355 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Poland told councilors, “That’s equivalent to about 37,000 gallons of gas burned, or equivalent to planting 5,000 seedlings and letting them grow for 10 years every single year that project is producing.”
In a letter to the Town Council, the Task Force explained that “It’s easy to imagine theoretical projects that might use similar funds to save more money or emissions. The reality is that this project, which might have seemed simple at the outset, has required many years of diligent effort.”
At the Conners Emerson School Board meeting on Monday, Superintendent Michael Zboray mentioned that Town Manager James Smith and Town Council Chair Valerie Peacock had approached him about the possibility of putting solar panels on the roof of the soon-to-be-constructed school, which has an opening date of 2026.
“While we recognize there have been changes to the initial cost and savings estimates for this project, we continue to believe that its financial, environmental, and leadership benefits far outweigh its costs, making it a sound investment for the Town,” the January 29 Task Force letter reads.
The original road to the site can’t sustain vehicles needed r for construction, regular operation, or fire protection. The site’s wetlands make stormwater runoff and new road construction issues. The town is in discussions with an abutter to use their land to help mitigate this.
According to an earlier Bar Harbor Story article by Shaun Farrar, which details the consultant’s report,
“The abutting neighbor’s property would have to be altered to allow for stormwater features and the building of the access road. Stormwater from the site would flow onto this abutting land.
“According to the report, the anticipated cost for the half-mile long road is $500,000, but there will not be an accurate estimate until the spring when a formal wetland delineation study can be done. A civil engineering design using previously collected natural resource data is being used to see if a road can be built along the preferred path but this is not enough data for permit level drawings. The formal wetland study is needed for that.”
The Task Force said that the reduction of carbon emissions is substantial.
“The Higgins Pit Solar Array is currently estimated to produce 1,399 MWh per year, or 67% of the Town’s estimated 2.1 MWh annual usage,” the letter said. “According to Maine electricity production data from 2022, this single project would prevent 335 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being released per year. The US EPA Greenhouse Equivalencies calculator estimates this to be equivalent to the carbon emitted by burning 37,696 gallons of gas, or to the carbon sequestered by over 5,539 tree seedlings grown for 10 years.”
For the Task Force members, it’s also about the carbon emissions created by the town’s electricity, which accounts for approximately 36% of the town’s total.
“Cutting our electricity emissions by 67% would thus result in a 24.4% overall reduction in town emissions. This is a massive reduction in one fell swoop and it is difficult to conceive of an alternative simple, time-sensitive project that could accomplish this feat with greater life-cycle savings to the town,” the letter states.
The Task Force also wrote that it favored local generation of electricity rather than purchasing.
“Local production greatly reduces transmission and distribution losses, which are typically 5.5% in Maine, but can reach up to 20% on peak demand days, when large loads of electricity are being pushed through our lines,” the members wrote. “Local production is an essential component of building our state’s resilience to the impacts of climate change. Large, centralized electricity production facilities mean that it only takes one severe storm or accident to vastly decrease production in the state. Furthermore, the closer to home electricity production is, the more reliable and resilient our electricity will be.”
Poland said the road, that has a signficant cost, could have additional value for access to a place to store things or access to the site past the life of the panels. The site is considered unsuitable to build on because of past uses and soil contamination.
Because the initial bond passed by such a large margin, Poland said, it’s unnecessary to ask the voters if they approve it still, which has been suggested.
“We feel this is urgent work,” Poland said.
She mentioned not having a sustainability coordinator for the past two years. Laura Berry, the town’s only sustainability coordinator was let go in early 2023 after former town manager Kevin Sutherland was let go.
Megan Huff, a senior at MDI High School, student of Poland’s, and member of the high school’s Eco Team said, “I really want action to happen. It must happen right now.”
She was one of four members of the public who spoke in support of the project. Huff said, “I want children to grow up to see a beautiful world.”
It would be worth the effort she said. “I say let’s do it and do it right now.”
The Council was not expected to take action on the item at the meeting and did not.
OTHER COUNCIL NEWS:
FLOOD MITIGATION PLANNING GRANT, FEE SCHEDULES
The town accepted a $220,104 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Association for flood mitigation planning. The town has to match the grant with $24,456.
The grant is especially focused on the town’s stormwater system, which includes catch basins, drainage pipes, culverts, ditches, and stormwater manholes.
During Town Manager Comments, Smith said that he met with congressional representatives about storm damage and FEMA process. They also spoke about the ferry terminal project and potential federal grants for the project. He also met with Acadia National Park representatives. The town is also going to begin delving into fees for various services, which could help defray the costs to property owners’ tax bills.
During Council Comments, a portion of the meeting where councilors have time to speak about what they want, Councilor Earl Brechlin said he’d like the cap on vacation rentals to be lowered from 9% of housing stock to 5%. Councilor Kyle Shank spoke about drug issues in Hancock County. Councilor Matthew Hochman recognized the loss of Joel Raymond to prostate cancer. Vice Chair Gary Friedmann spoke about an upcoming program at the Jesup Library to hold a community forum about local options tax.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
We’ve updated this article on February 28 to include two pdf files from the Task Force. One is its full letter to the council. The other is Ruth Poland’s presentation.
To read an earlier article about some councilors’ worries about the project, click here.
To watch the Town Council meeting, click here.
We reported on a couple other topics related to the council meeting this week. They are linked below.
