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Developers outline West Hill Road community solar plan; siting council application to follow
Summary
Lodestar Energy on Feb. 26 presented plans for a 3 MW community solar array on a 41‑acre West Hill Road parcel in Torrington and said it will file an application with the Connecticut Siting Council on March 10.
Lodestar Energy presented a proposed community solar project for a 41‑acre parcel on West Hill Road during the Feb. 26 Torrington Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and told commissioners the developer plans to submit a formal application to the Connecticut Siting Council on March 10.
Sam Malone, Lodestar’s Connecticut project developer, described the proposal as a 3‑megawatt solar array with about 19.2 acres of disturbance for panels, access drives, utility work and stormwater infrastructure. “It is 41 acres total... the solar array itself is 3 megawatts in size, and that's about 19.2 acres of total disturbance,” Malone said.
Malone said the company has an option to purchase the property (owned at the time of the presentation by Commissioner Jim Babinski, who recused himself from the discussion) and has completed interconnection studies with Eversource that indicate distribution capacity is available.
Engineer Mike Gagnon described subsurface test pits and stormwater design, saying the team relocated a basin after encountering ledge and designed basins to meet Connecticut DEEP standards. “We have to go through a bunch of test pits to ensure that subsurface conditions are suitable for stormwater,” Gagnon said, and he noted the revised drainage design reduces peak flows compared with prior conditions.
Commissioners asked about visual screening, distance from West Hill Road (Gagnon said the fence line is about 550 feet from the road), access construction sequencing, long‑term maintenance and decommissioning. Malone told the commission Lodestar will perform periodic maintenance checks and remote monitoring, mow vegetation about two to three times per year, and submit a decommissioning plan and bond to the Siting Council for end‑of‑life removal and recycling of materials.
Malone said the project expects to pay local taxes — he estimated up to $40,000 per year — and that the array’s energy would be allocated through a non‑residential community solar arrangement to municipal accounts in Hartford as off‑takers under the developer’s contract with the utility. The company plans construction in spring 2026 if the Siting Council approves the application during its six‑month review period.
No formal action was requested of the commission at the meeting; commissioners indicated they may provide comment during the Siting Council review and asked the developer to return with updates as the state application moves forward.
