Chabok Road solar panels arriving; commissioning estimated for late April

Assistant Town Manager Jean Walker told the Bedford Energy Commission that the solar panels for the Chabok Road facility "will arrive either tomorrow or Monday," and that electricians are scheduled to return on Tuesday to continue installation. Walker said the system’s transformer "has made it to The United States, but it is on the West Coast right now" and still needs stateside testing before shipment to the site.

Walker gave a timeline for final steps: she said the project is likely to be "mechanically complete sometime around the January, February," after which inspections and coordination with the regional utility will follow. "Given all of that with the commissioning time that they need with Eversource, estimate late April for facility to be commissioned," she said.

Commission members discussed public reporting of generation and costs tied to the project. Bing Lu suggested a public-facing meter or widget so residents could "see exactly how much power has generated," and other commissioners said the RFP/contract with Revision includes that capability. The commission agreed staff will look for examples and consider publishing monthly energy‑use reports so the public can track trends and how the town’s generation offsets consumption.

The update did not include a formal vote; next implementation steps identified were finalizing on‑site testing, completing mechanical work in January–February and scheduling inspections and commissioning with Eversource.