Altus Power America, Inc. (“Altus”) and Reservoir Road Holdings, LLC (“Reservoir”) recently combined efforts to develop two 648 kW DC ground-mounted solar systems located in the Town of Highgate, Vermont. The two arrays are built over old gravel pits on Frontage Road, converting previously unusable land into a renewable energy generator.
Altus, a leading investor and owner of solar generation projects based out of Greenwich, Connecticut, funded the construction and development of the arrays and will serve as the long-term owner and operator. At present, Altus has more than 90 MWs of solar PV across 60+ projects, including a similar 2.1 MW Vermont project located on a landfill in South Burlington.
The clean energy generated by these arrays will be consumed through Net Metering Credit Agreements between Altus and four local offtakers. These agreements allow the Town of Highgate and the Franklin Supervisory schools to receive energy credits on their utility bill from the remotely-located installations. They also contribute to Swanton Village Electric’s status as one of the cleanest utilities in the country, with a significant portion of its energy production coming from hydro-electric generation as well as solar.
“The Highgate, Missisquoi Valley Union, and Swanton Schools, as well as the Franklin Northwest Supervisory Union will benefit greatly from partnering with Altus in this project. The schools and Supervisory Union office will realize over $750,000 in electricity savings over the 20-year duration of the contract,” said Winton Goodrich, Superintendent of Schools for the Franklin Northwest Supervisory Union.
Reservoir served as the developer for the project, which is estimated to produce approximately 1.75 million energy credits in its first year of operation. Additionally, Reservoir donated a 60-acre parcel of land located next to the projects to the Town of Highgate to be used for future development to benefit the town.
A press conference will be held at the Franklin Northwest Supervisory Union office, 100 Robin Hood Drive, Swanton VT on February 23, 2018 at 9am, with a ribbon cutting and tour of the nearby solar facilities to follow.
