Old Lyme approves Green Skies to develop solar array at closed landfill

First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker and the Old Lyme Board of Selectmen voted June 15 to approve selecting Green Skies Clean Energy LLC to develop a solar array at the town’s closed landfill and authorized the first selectwoman to execute the binding option agreement and related forms for state and utility incentives.

The decision follows a presentation by Alan Brown of CSW Energy and a legal briefing by town counsel Rob Cle. Brown told the board the RFP produced two proposals and that Green Skies’ "bid alternate" offered a larger installation footprint and higher long‑term benefits to the town. "So, with all that said, our recommendation um is the award to the Green Skies bid alternate one," Brown said during the presentation.

Rob Cle advised the board that the model option agreement included with the RFP should be executed before July 4, 2026 to attempt to "safe harbor" federal tax incentives. He described the federal incentive structure as a 30% base tax credit with possible 10% bonuses for domestic content and landfill siting (a configuration he characterized as yielding roughly a 50% combined incentive), noting timing could affect the project's financials.

Brown explained the project would use virtual net metering (VNM) and be sized primarily to Old Lyme’s municipal usage (about 400,000 kilowatt-hours per year). Under the recommended bid alternate, the developer would recruit other state agricultural or municipal (SAM) Eversource accounts—Region 18 (the regional school district) was cited as a potential participant—to increase the project size and realize economies of scale.

The board heard questions about decommissioning and company solvency. Rob said removal and site restoration obligations would be written into long-term agreements and that financiers typically step in if a developer fails, so the town’s removal risk would be covered in contractual terms.

The resolution read at the meeting authorizes the town to enter agreements with Green Skies and for the first selectwoman to sign any and all documents associated with utility, state, or local permits and the Eversource Clean Energy Incentive Program. Board members moved and seconded the resolution and approved it by voice vote.

Next steps outlined by the presenters include executing the option agreement; if the state incentive auction (the NRES program) reopens this year, the project could be entered in 2026, otherwise submissions would be planned for spring 2027. If selected, the project would proceed to engineering, permitting, procurement and installation with potential commissioning in 2027–2028 depending on timing of the state program and permitting.