Strafford County schedules workshop after developer outlines multi-site solar plan
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Summary
A solar developer detailed a proposal for multiple county solar installations, potential ownership and financing options, and urged quick action to secure a 30% federal tax credit; commissioners agreed to a public workshop Monday at 9 a.m.
A solar developer presenting to the Strafford County Commission outlined a plan for multiple solar installations on county land and the commission agreed to hold a public workshop at 9 a.m. Monday to review the proposal.
The Brightspot Solar representative, speaking to the commission, described an approach that would spread generation across several sites rather than a single large array and suggested several ownership and financing options, including a county-owned project, a private owner with a power purchase agreement (PPA), or an investor-owned model that would allow the county to buy the system later. "Net billing is not net metering," the Brightspot Solar representative said, warning commissioners that exports would be credited differently under New Hampshire rules and explaining implications for the county's bills.
The presentation focused on numbers and timelines. The developer said the county’s combined annual electric usage is about 4,698,000 kilowatt-hours and recommended targeting roughly 5 megawatts of annual production. He proposed building four separate systems: two 1-megawatt systems, one 500-kilowatt system intended to serve the courthouse, jail and sheriff’s office, and a 200-kilowatt system for the Haider House. He said a phased approach could simplify interconnection and reduce the need for a system-wide grid study.
The developer described potential revenue and incentives: registering solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs) in the Massachusetts market, which he estimated could generate about $120,000 per year for the project at current prices, and pursuing the federal investment tax credit (commonly 30 percent) if construction is started before the 2025 safe-harbor deadlines. "We can start this project in 45 days, 60 days," he said, adding that minimal early site work (concrete bases, conduit runs and dated photos) could help the county qualify for the tax credit safe harbor.
He also discussed technology choices, saying tracker-mounted, bifacial panels would increase annual production compared with fixed mounting. He described local maintenance and warranty services and proposed that Brightspot Solar could retain SREC revenues as part of its pricing model while offering monitoring and maintenance during the contract term.
Commissioners and staff raised implementation questions: how interconnection studies with Eversource would proceed, whether existing easements or wetlands would affect placement, and whether a full delegation vote would be required to bond the project. County staff member Doug gave a brief operational update on meetings with Eversource and toured sites with the developer. Commissioner George and others noted the need to clarify who would bear upfront design and engineering costs if the delegation did not approve bonding.
On the next steps, the commission and the developer agreed to hold a workshop. The commission chair asked staff to publish the meeting; county staff member Janet was asked to post the agenda. The developer said he could present financing options and potential PPA terms and said he had already ordered panels and put some bases in on other projects as evidence of capability.
The commission did not take a formal vote on a contract, lease, bond or purchase at the meeting. The item was moved to a workshop for further review, where commissioners said they expect to discuss financing options, site layouts, interconnection requirements and delegation approval needs.
Documents and numbers cited at the meeting included the developer’s project handout, an estimate of about $5–6 million for battery storage for a larger system, a 30 percent federal tax-credit window contingent on starting construction before 2025, and a developer estimate of roughly $120,000 annual SREC revenue at current MA market prices. Several implementation risks — interconnection timing with Eversource, delegation bonding approval and site-specific permitting — were flagged by commissioners and staff as topics for the upcoming workshop.
