Derby’s mayor and state officials say installing solar panels atop the closed landfill off Pine Street could save the city more than $1 million in electricity costs over 15 years.
“This project will bring great benefits to our community and will demonstrate our strong commitment to environmental responsibility and the reduction of our local carbon footprint,” Mayor Anita Dugatto said.
Dugatto was joined at a press conference Thursday in Derby City Hall by state Sen. Joseph Crisco, state Rep. Linda Gentile, and Bill Jordan, the founder and chief executive officer of Jordan Energy.
Connecticut state officials and regulators have been pushing — in terms of legislation — for the development of clean, renewable energy projects.
The goal is to spur clean energy companies — such as Jordan Energy, founded in 2007 and based in Troy, N.Y. — to invest in the state’s economy. At the same time, the solar panels are designed to save cities money by using the sun for energy.
Under the state’s “ZREC” (zero-emissions) and “LREC” (low-emissions) renewable energy program, clean energy companies submit competitive project bids to the state’s electrical giants — Connecticut Light and Power and United Illuminating, the companies that fund the program.
Jordan Energy won the Derby project from UI in July by bidding $67.50 per megawatt hour, which puts them in line to receive about $1.27 million from UI for the Derby project over 15 years.
The project will cost around $3 million.
The Board of Aldermen, under two mayoral administrations, have given Jordan Energy authorization to submit a bid using the city’s name.
Click here for more on the program.
Click here for more on Jordan Energy.
More information on the state’s renewable energy efforts can be found in this story from the Hartford Business Journal.
Gentile noted Thursday that Derby’s electricity bill increased a jaw-dropping 38 percent from 2013 to 2014.
Taxes pay that bill every year. Using solar panels to generate electricity for Derby public buildings will reverse that trend, Gentile said, so taxpayers will save money — and solar is better for the environment as well.
The Derby Board of Aldermen still has to weigh in on a contract and a lease agreement between the city and Jordan Energy. Those agreements could be on the agenda of the next Aldermen meeting, scheduled for Aug. 28.
The project will also have to pass through the local planning and zoning commission — and the entire process is regulated by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, according to Derby officials.
“We project that the cost savings from what you are paying now will be in the 15-to-20 percent range on your supply, transmission and distribution,” Jordan said during Thursday’s press conference.
Jordan previously installed a solar panel project on a landfill in Greenfield, Mass., when he worked for Axio Power.
Click here for a story that mentions the Greenfield project.
There are no upfront costs to Derby for the project, according to Jordan Energy.
The “solar farm” will be housed on approximately six acres of the roughly 23-acre landfill, which sits near the city’s transfer station.
