By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green’s solar field project just became bigger, brighter and more of a bargain.
The solar project, which had been stalled since last summer, was approved Monday evening by the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities. On May 2, the project will come before City Council, which has already had two readings for the project and was just waiting for details to get ironed out.
If all goes as planned, an estimated 2,900 homes in the city will be powered by sunlight starting next year.
“This is incredibly exciting for the city of Bowling Green,” Mayor Dick Edwards said.
The project is not only moving ahead, but it is expected to produce more power than originally planned.
The initial plan called for 110 acres to be used on the city’s 317 acres located at the southeast corner of Newton and Carter roads, northeast of the city limits. The city was in line to get 10.5 megawatts from the solar field, according to Brian O’Connell, director of utilities for BG.
However, instead of fixed mounted panels, the new plan calls for single axis tracker panels.
“The panels will rotate and follow the path of the sun as it moves through the sky,” O’Connell said.
The rotating panels will take up 35 more acres and cost more to install, but they will increase power production, he said. The solar field will generate 20 megawatts, with Bowling Green getting 13.74 megawatts of the power for its customers.
The moving solar panels will start producing earlier, continue later in the day, and generate higher megawatts at their peak, O’Connell said.
Brian O’Connell explains plans to board of public utilities.
The solar field was initially planned for the western section of the city’s acreage, which stretches to Anderson Road. However, to reduce disruption and concerns for neighbors, the solar panels will be constructed in the middle of the acreage, with farmland left on both the east and west ends.
Also changing is the role American Municipal Power Inc. will play in the project. Originally, AMP planned to own and operate the solar sites in multiple communities. However, AMP was not eligible for federal investment tax credit. So AMP entered into an agreement with NextEra, a third party solar developer.
NextEra, which qualifies for the tax credits, is one of the largest generators of solar energy in the U.S. with more than 700 megawatts of solar generation.
NextEra will develop, construct, own, operate and maintain all the solar arrays in the field. AMP is responsible for constructing the circuit to connect to solar facility to the city’s transmission system. The city will take over the ownership and maintenance of the circuit once it is complete.
Since the project now qualifies for federal tax credit, it will cost the city less in the long run. With the original solar plan, it was estimated the city would see a 1.1 percent increase in its power supply costs. That increase has been erased with the new proposal.
“It’s much better economically than the previous proposal,” O’Connell said.
As planned, the solar field will give Bowling Green 4.5 percent of the energy used each year. It will also account for 33.7 million pounds in reduced carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Construction is planned to start during the third week of June, with the solar field expected to be finished by the end of December.
The Board of Public Utilities unanimously approved of the plan Monday evening.
“I think this is a great project,” member Bill Culbertson said, crediting O’Connell and his staff.
Council member Mike Aspacher also thanked the utility board members.
“Thank you all very much for your vision,” Aspacher said. “Members of the community are real excited about this project.”
