Rockingham County says Eversource will install interconnect for solar project, aims to capture $3 million in savings

Rockingham County commissioners and facilities staff said Eversource will install an interconnect next week for a county solar installation that officials expect will reduce electric costs and enable net metering across campus buildings.

At the commissioners meeting on June 4, Jude, a facilities staff member, said Eversource’s field team is scheduled to begin work Monday and that the system and the county’s new equipment should cover the county’s needs. "They're coming in Monday to do that," Jude said. He and other facilities staff said the interconnect is one of the final steps to put the project into production.

The project ties into a broader capital effort that county staff and contractors said used federal ARPA funding and other grants to pay for infrastructure upgrades. "Every piece is a piece of the puzzle to contribute into the count to the tune of $3,000,000 of taxpayer dollars," Jude said, describing the aggregate value of project-driven savings and infrastructure investments. Revision, the contractor, and county representatives were credited in the meeting for advocacy and coordination with Eversource.

Facilities staff described how the county will account for distributed generation under a net-metering arrangement: meters will track total electricity used and total electricity exported, and the difference will be the billing delta. As Jude put it, the meters will "measure everything that we use and everything that we put out, and then it'll just be a delta." Staff said the system is designed to serve county loads and that there was no current plan to limit the plant to a partial operating percentage.

Facilities staff also briefed commissioners on related capital work: the county has secured a Department of Transportation permit and expects a water-main replacement and sidewalk/parking coordination in the coming weeks. That work, paired with the solar interconnect, is intended to modernize several county facilities and reduce utility costs across multiple buildings.

County leaders did not adopt new policy or enter into new contracts during the discussion; staff said they will continue coordination with Eversource and contractors and return with operational details as meters are commissioned and interconnect testing is completed.

Looking ahead, facilities staff said contractors will coordinate traffic flow and construction staging with the county and DOT in the next two to three weeks and will monitor operations as the system is brought online.