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Task force questions developer’s $0.10/W decommissioning cap; members offer $300k+ counterestimate
Summary
The draft lease caps decommissioning security at $0.10 per DC watt (about $72,000 under the currently estimated array). Task force members said that figure is too low, offering $300,000–$350,000 as a more realistic 2026 removal estimate and asked for surety-bond examples and an inflation or escrow mechanism.
A central point of debate at the task force meeting was the amount and mechanism for financial assurance to cover decommissioning of the proposed landfill solar array.
Under the lease draft discussed, the developer proposed a cap equal to $0.10 per DC watt of installed capacity, which the developer said would translate to roughly $72,000 based on the current, not‑final system size. The developer said that calculation is in today's dollars and does not credit any salvage value. “That that would be in today's terms. So $72,000 just based on the final system size, the 10 cents a watt,” he said.
Several task force members challenged that figure. One member said, “I think you guys are severely light in decom costs 2026… I’m in a 3 to 350,000 bucks to pull the thing out in ’26.” Members pressed whether the decommissioning guarantee should be inflation‑adjusted, held in invested escrow, or indexed to CPI; the developer said some towns accept that approach but that most of his projects use a surety bond or a letter of credit and that any change would affect project economics.
Clause 4K of the draft lists multiple options for security (surety bond, letter of credit, parent guarantee, or other guarantee) and is currently written to allow the tenant to choose the mechanism. Task force members asked for a clear single mechanism in the agreement or for illustrative examples that show cost and administrative impacts. The developer committed to collect example surety-bond schedules, discuss bond‑value mechanics with finance partners and to provide updated figures for the task force and the town attorney.
Next steps: developer to provide example surety-bond language and an amortization or escrow schedule; town attorney to advise on preferred guarantee mechanism and timing (the draft currently sets bond establishment in year 15).
