Westerly landfill used for new solar energy plan

WESTERLY — An old landfill in Westerly could be reused as local officials look for a site for a solar panel project there.

Planning has been going on for over a year. Last June, the city received offers from eight solar energy suppliers and interviewed two of them.

As a result, a land lease agreement was concluded between the city and Kearsarge Energy for a land development project for a photovoltaic installation, which is currently being considered by the City Council.

The area under consideration off Route 91 is a grassy mound located behind the transfer station building.

Under the proposal, leasing the site to Kearsarge for 30 years would generate about $7.1 million for the city. City Manager Shawn Lacey said such a lease would have no cost to the city.

“All we could do is rent a place to put the panels,” he said. “We, in turn, would return $7 million to taxpayers.”

After the lease period ended, the city could decide to extend the lease and receive new panels or remove them from the construction site, also at no cost to the city authorities. Lacey stated that the area was already cleared and did not require penetration of the landfill cover. The proposal calls for Kearsarge to install about 6,700 solar modules on part of the 70-acre landfill.

Lacey said there is some flexibility in the length of the lease, ranging from 20, 25 or 30 years, with 30 years being the most profitable for the city. He noted that the current lease term for the city’s White Rock Road solar panel location is 25 years.

The City Council has not yet taken action on the lease project, but may do so at its next meeting on July 1.

“There is no rush on this matter,” City Council President William Aiello said on June 17. “There’s a lot of stuff here, so we can talk about it.”

Some council members want to see if leasing revenue could help reduce or eliminate the $50 annual transfer station permit fee charged to residents on their tax bills. The Council adopted an assessment in 2022.

“I like the idea of deducting the $50 transfer station fee,” Aiello said. “I don’t mind seeing something like that.”

Under its proposal, Boston-based Kearsarge was founded in 2009 and owns and operates more than 225 MW of solar and battery energy storage systems in New England and New York. Its first project in Rhode Island was the University of Rhode Island South Kingstown-Narragansett Collaboration with 9.3 MW capacity at multiple Superfund sites in South Kingstown.

It owns and operates 14 landfill or brownfield projects in New England with a total capacity of more than 69 MW.

He also has experience in cooperation with Westerly on the 6 MW project at 67 Quarry Road, which has been implemented since 2020.

“Kearsarge does not turn projects around or sell projects once they are built,” company manager Andrew Bernstein said in 2023. “This ensures that the city and Kearsarge are aligned and the new asset partner will not become an owner demanding changes in the relationship and agreement.”

More than a decade ago, the city discussed plans to place solar panels on a former landfill.

Touted in 2010 as the state’s largest proposed solar farm, the ground-mounted solar array – a $10.5 million project – installed on 12.4 acres of the city’s old landfill would power city and school buildings.

However, these plans stalled when it was determined that the covered storage site was not stable enough to support the number of panels needed for the project. According to reports, there were also problems with connecting to the power grid at the landfill.

In March 2019, the City Council voted to adopt the city’s first solar ordinance. The regulation regulates both residential systems and larger solar farms intended to produce electricity for public and private utilities, industry and businesses.