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An enormous solar array proposed for Plainfield and Sterling has divided public opinion in both towns, with some residents opposed because of environmental concerns while others support the prospect of hundreds of thousands of dollars in new tax revenue.
State regulators held a series of hearings on Verogy’s proposed Husky Solar initiative, which is billed as yielding enough energy to power about 6,700 homes every year.
Unlike many large-scale development projects in eastern Connecticut this year, Husky Solar didn’t spawn an organized opposition, public petitions or a campaign with lawn signs.
While social media debates have largely skewed in favor of opponents, there have been far more signs of support than proposals like the Killingly trash plant and the Canterbury and Plainfield Costco warehouses. And local government in both towns has been largely neutral; in Sterling, opinions on the board of selectmen appeared to be divided.
The state Siting Council initially intended to vote in August on whether to issue permits, but has pushed its deadline for a decision to February.
Verogy, a West Hartford-based company, wants to put solar panels and related equipment on 211 acres at the former Bellavance Property that straddles the Plainfield and Sterling line.
While the target site includes former farmland, fields and forest, it also has abandoned gravel pits and in the past had been considered for an Airbus assembly plant and a low-level nuclear waste dump.
Verogy, through its Brookfield Husky Solar LLC unit, claims its solar farm would create a net benefit for the environment.
“The project will generate 50 MW of clean renewable energy, will not result in significant environmental harm to the surrounding area and will meet a public need, namely the need for additional zero carbon energy,” the company wrote in its proposal to the Siting Council in February.
“The project has been configured to avoid any substantial environmental impacts by largely utilizing upland areas, farm fields and promising to traverse wetland areas using timber matting,” it wrote. “The project meets DEEP’s air and water quality standards … and will comply with water quality standards associated with construction and operational stormwater management.”
Verogy also promised the solar array wouldn’t be visible from public area and would be screened from neighboring private properties.
Sterling Selectman Patricia Massey challenged the company’s optimistic view in an April 20 letter to the Siting Council, writing “This project does not coincide with our ‘Last Green Valley’ designation. We are concerned with the impact that the excavation, transportation and installation will have on our community school in the near vicinity of the site, plus the potential for contamination by toxic metals, cables, glass and wires which could have a negative effect on our river and homes.”
Soon afterward, Sterling First Selectman Jack Joslyn notified the Siting Council that Massey’s letter reflected her own opinions and not those of the full board, which hadn’t taken a stance either way.
The company acknowledged that 124 acres of trees would be cleared, but told the Siting Council that the area has been timbered and harvested by landowners within the past 20 years — and probably would be again even if the solar farm isn’t built.
“Farming the land produces no income for the landowners at this time,” Verogy noted.
Even so, most of the social media commentary condemning the plan has centered on its use of open space instead of warehouse roofs or brownfields.
The company has said that Sterling would see an estimated tax boost of $252,000 a year from Husky Solar, while Plainfield could get $350,000.
Verogy said it would spend $13 million on wages for 150 to 200 workers during a nearly two years of construction, and that permit fees would amount to about $355,000 for Sterling and $550,000 for Plainfield.
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