Lawsuit Aims to Stop 45-acre Solar Project for MCCC

From the Trenton Times:

A group of West Windsor residents has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court that aims to put a temporary stop to a 45-acre solar project planned for the campus of Mercer County Community College.

The residents have been criticizing aspects of the project for months, saying they have never had an opportunity to go before any regulatory board. Residents who have homes on South Post Road and Old Trenton Road, adjacent to the site, say they are worried that the 8-megawatt solar farm will disturb their properties.

The lawsuit filed Aug. 22 argues the project should go before the West Windsor planning and zoning boards for review. The suit names the college, the township, the Mercer County Improvement Authority, which is helping to fund the project, and SunLight General Mercer Solar, which was hired to build the solar field. It seeks an injunction to stop the project until the review occurs.

Read the Full Story on NJ.com

West Windsor Mayor, Council Request New Review of MCCC Solar Plan

The mayor and council of West Windsor Township have sent the following letter to Governor Christie, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, MCIA Executive Director Phil Miller, MCCC President Patricia Donohue, and other Mercer County and state officials:

Dear Governor Christie, Madam and Messrs:

The West Windsor Township Mayor and Council respectfully request that you require the Mercer County Community College (” MCCC”) and the Mercer County Improvement Authority (“MCIA”) to suspend construction of the 45- acre solar project at MCCC until new hearings are held that involve all parties, including nearby West Windsor residents, as to recent changes and factual discrepancies to the project.

Recent changes include a redesign of the project that was required by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (” NJDEP”) and possible adverse effects on the financing of the project – and its overall financial viability – due to the dramatic decline in Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (“SREC”) prices. The Mayor and Council of West Windsor believe that new hearings should take place as to the financial viability of the project which could adversely impact all of the residents of Mercer County, as the County has guaranteed the bonds on this questionable project. Additionally, the Mayor and Council are very concerned about the potential negative impact on the health, safety and welfare of the residents of West Windsor due to drainage and run-off issues related to the project.

It has been brought to the West Windsor Township Mayor and Council’s attention that there appear to be factual discrepancies from the statements of the MCCC, MCIA and SunLight officials regarding this project.

It was stated that the project would be at least a football field away from any residents’ homes; however, it now appears that the latest plans show solar panels as close as 50 feet from residents’ properties.

SunLight General’ s presentation at a recent residents’ meeting stated that $ 1. 97 million of principal payments are to be made each year until September 15, 2024. However, the bond offering says that these payments plus interest willcontinue until 2027. Discrepancies were also found from the presentation of SunLight General Chief Financial Officer Stacey Hughes, who said at a recent meeting that a breakdown of revenue used to pay off the bond offering included 28% of the expected revenue is to come from a federal grant. As this grant has already been promised to pay off construction costs outside of the debt, residents question why it was being counted as revenue to pay off the bonds in a legal document. Ms. Hughes has responded that she was not referring to money for a separate tax benefit – “accelerated depreciation” – but she said they are now also “looking into it.” The MCIA website states that 28% of the revenue does come from accelerated depreciation. An explanation needsto be made as to how the project expects to capture this benefit and when.

SunLight General believes that SREC prices will be high enough to pay their debts. However, recent projections by SREC Trade as well as Bloomberg New Energy Finance under current legislation, as well as proposed legislation, show a shortfall during at least ten to fifteen years of the project’s lifespan. The question now arises as to what SREC price forecasts are viable.

Additionally, SunLight General has yet to provide information as to any other ground mounted systems it has constructed in the past, so that an evaluation can be made as to those projects’ impacts upon nearby properties.

The Mayor and Council continue to be concerned about the buffering of the project. The original project called for berming that would hide the project from both the residents and those who drove along Old Trenton Road. However, the berms have now been eliminated from the project and it is difficult to understand how the project would be hidden from sight through landscaping. This needs to be addressed to allay the fears of the nearby community.

The Mayor and Council of West Windsor look forward to a response to this letter and we seek immediate action to prevent this project from moving forward with so many unanswered questions. In light of the many recent changes to the project — not the least of which being its financial viability given the sharp decline in SREC values— it is our wish to see the questions of the community and its residents answered before construction commences.

It is our view that given the many changes to the project and financial viability, that the project should go back before Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Mercer County Planning Board for another review, given the financial concerns.

Very truly yours,

Shing-Fu Hsueh, Mayor Kamal Khanna

Mayor & Council President – Township of West Windsor

Tanking Solar Market Halts Moorestown Project

The Mooresetown Patch reports on the halting of a proposed solar farm there due to the economic realities:

How things can change in a year.

Late last summer, the township heard from engineer Russell Trice how it could potentially save nearly $2 million over 15 years by installing solar panels.

On Monday night, Trice explained to council the volatile solar market has struggled as of late, rendering the aforementioned project—an array of solar panels on a seven-acre parcel near the sewage treatment plant on Pine Street—economically inadvisable.

According to Trice, an imbalance of supply and demand—too much of the former, not enough of the latter—has driven down the price of SRECs (Solar Renewable Energy Certificate; pronounced “Shrek,” as in the cartoon ogre) to the point where it would be unlikely the township would save money on its electricity usage.

Nice to see that SOME municipalities are able to use common sense.

Read the full story here.

Mercer County Officially Backtracks from Promised Review of Solar Plan

Mercer County Community College and the Mercer County Improvement Authority have officially declined a request by the West Windsor Town Council to present their solar plan at the township’s planning board:

The MCCC and the MCIA have discussed the Resolution and have concluded that we must respectfully decline the request to bring the Solar Project before the West Windsor Township Planning Board for a courtesy review. This decision was reached after careful and thoughtful consideration by the entire project team.

For more than 25 years, the College has never brought any project undertaken on its campus before the West Windsor Planning Board for a courtesy review. Although it is true that the project team once indicated at a Mercer County Freeholder meeting that it would consent to a courtesy review, that indication was provided based upon an understanding that there would be no formal review of the Solar Project by any planning authority. Shortly after the permitting process was initiated, the Mercer County Planning Board advised the project team that it would conduct a formal review of the Solar Project.

West Windsor residents had been assured by the development team that this project would be reviewed by their own planning board. The reversal of that decision only reinforces the poor communication and lack of community engagement that has plagued this controversial plan. Shame on the team for breaking that promise to residents.

Read the full letter here.

Princeton Packet: West Windsor Residents Not Satisfied at Solar Farm Session

The Princeton Packet covered the May 31st residents meeting on the proposed industrial solar facility at Mercer County Community College:

Township residents left the Mercer County Community College Conference Center last Friday unsatisfied and fired up after the college’s unsuccessful public forum to allay concerns regarding a planned solar farm project.

The college invited representatives from SunLight General Capital, the company funding the project, and Phil Miller, the executive director of the Mercer County Improvement Authority, to provide further information on the project and answer questions.

The $40 million solar farm project aims to plant a 9.5 megawatt ground-mounted solar array on 45 acres of West Windsor farm land.

Read the full article on CentralJersey.com.

NJ Needs Statewide Approach on Solar Land Use

SmarterSolarNJ.com has been contacted by numerous groups and individuals across New Jersey about concerns with unchecked and – in some cases – inappropriate solar development in their communities. An editorial in The Times of Trenton reinforces the statewide nature of the issue:

The backlash against installation of solar farms in several Mercer and Burlington locales is becoming more widespread.

Recently, plans for a 67-acre solar array on Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor campus and a proposal for a 110,500-panel project spread over 137 acres in Florence and Burlington Township have come under fire. Hamilton Township recently passed a law limiting residential solar panels to rooftops.

It seems counterintuitive to protest an energy-collection system with no negative environmental effects – such as those spewed from combustion of fossil fuels to produce energy.

But as more and more of these installations begin to sprout — and developers seek permission to sow still others — we’re uncomfortably reminded of another rapid expansion in the name of energy. Next door in Pennsylvania, energy companies are setting up hundreds of drilling sites to attain the natural gas locked in the Marcellus Shale.

Read the full editorial on NJ.com.

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What is it Like Living Next to a Solar “Farm?”

This gallery contains 9 photos.

Last Thursday’s resident meeting regarding the industrial-scale solar facility at Mercer County Community College included a lot of discussion about water. Stephen Goodbody, Director of Projects and Engineering for the developer, repeatedly stated that the MCCC facility will not have … Continue reading →