LIMESTONE, Maine — Loring Development Authority President Carl Flora discussed the future of a lease agreement between Loring and Ranger Solar of Yarmouth during the agency’s October 19 board meeting.
Signed earlier in the month, this agreement will allow Ranger to lease 600 acres of land and install a solar panel array with the potential of generating 100 megawatts of power. The resulting array will power between 20,000 and 30,000 homes and be the largest in both Maine and New England.
Since announcing their cooperation with Ranger Solar, Flora says the most commonly asked questions are about the economic benefit to LDA and the region.
“A fair amount of people will have to involved in the construction of the project for a year or two,” Flora said. “Though it won’t create a lot of permanent jobs once it is up and running.”
The benefit to Loring, Flora continued, is that it will utilize otherwise unoccupied land for a productive purpose that “generates revenue and allows (the LDA) to continue its operations.”
Miles Williams of Caribou asked about the delay from now and and the projected construction date. According to the meeting memorandum, construction may not begin until “as early as late 2018-19.”
According to several LDA Board members, some of the present obstacles include permitting issues, resolution of engineering questions, and working to integrate the the generation facility into the electrical grid. The size of the load, 100 megawatts, is roughly 80 percent of Aroostook County’s load, and as a result the transmission process may take a while. Currently, there are five bids throughout Maine for the new power line.
“It’s worth noting that the current energy market for renewables is strong in Massachusetts and Connecticut,” said Flora. “That’s where the big demand is, and the dilemma is how to tie into those markets.”
The LDA is hoping to connect to ISO New England, but members admit that the process is long and no people have been hired to build the transmission line yet.
Board member James Cote asked how the project will benefit the town of Limestone in terms of personal property taxes.
“There’s a lot of gray areas in the industry right now as far as value of renewable energy and generators,” said Williams. “Throughout the state there’s a lot of questions and unknowns about how to tax this type of energy. It’s a new field, and there is a lot of discussion right now. Especially on the personal side with smaller units.”
