A 50-megawatt solar array, which would be the state’s largest, has been proposed for parcels of land abutting West Road and Slang Road in Panton. Panels are proposed for the field in the middle distance (just between the structures in the foreground and the treeline beyond) in this view to the West from Route 22A. Seen on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
PANTON — Looking west from Route 22A, which stretches from Ferrisburgh to Fair Haven, a driver can see iconic Vermont landscapes: farm fields, rolling hills and the Adirondack mountains. If a new proposal moves forward, a portion of that view would include the largest solar array ever built in Vermont.
Residents in Panton are starting to weigh in on the size of that project, while the global company behind it pursues additional large solar arrays in two other small towns in western Vermont. Conversations about all three projects represent a broader reckoning in the state about the urgency of climate change and local skepticism towards large-scale renewable energy projects.
Freepoint Commodities, a global trading company with headquarters in Connecticut, along with its development partner, SunEast Development LLC, a renewable energy company based in Pennsylvania, have proposed the large-scale projects in Panton, Fair Haven and Shaftsbury.
At 50 megawatts — a total fenced area of roughly 300 acres, or 227 football fields — the array in Panton would be the largest of the three, and more than double the size of any existing solar array in Vermont. The solar fields in the other two towns would each produce 20 megawatts of power and cover about 85 acres.
Lawmakers in Vermont have been wrestling to meet the state’s climate goals and reduce the state’s contribution to climate change. During the 2024 session, they passed H.289, a bill that would require Vermont’s utilities to invest more in large, local projects like the ones Freepoint and SunEast are proposing. Though Gov. Phil Scott vetoed the bill, lawmakers have identified the legislation as a priority and may vote to override the veto when they reconvene in mid-June.
Meanwhile, residents in communities around the state are grappling with the scale of the projects, often arguing that large-scale solar doesn’t have a place in Vermont.
So far, around 300 people have signed paper petitions in Panton opposing the 50-megawatt project. Neighbors of the Shaftsbury project, too, have organized against the developers’ proposal. They are skeptical about Freepoint Commodities’ size, intention and deep pockets; concerned about the impact to the natural environment; and fearful that the proposals will change their towns’ rural characters and views, in part by covering agricultural landscapes with shiny glass.
Mary Rudd, chair of Panton’s design review board and planning commision, at the site of a proposed 50-megawatt solar array in Panton on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
“I’m for solar, I just think this scale is too big for this area,” said Mary Rudd, chair of Panton’s development review board.
In Vermont, no grid upgrades needed
The solar developers have been working to site the arrays in the three Vermont towns since 2017, according to Reed Wills, chief operating officer and co-owner of SunEast.
When Freepoint hired SunEast in 2016, the two companies decided to focus on the New England market and assessed roughly a dozen sites, looking at the possibilities for lending and potential permitting constraints in each location, Wills said.
The “biggest wildcard,” he said, is that developers have to pay for reductions in reliability that their projects could cause when they hook up to the transmission grid.
“Every new entrant has to pay to keep the grid in the same condition it was before they connected,” he said.
That’s why the developers settled on the three Vermont projects: “They require no system upgrades at all,” Wills said.
The Shaftsbury project has advanced the farthest — the developers filed for a certificate of public good from the state’s Public Utility Commission in May 2023. If they receive a permit, Wills expects to begin building in 2025.
In Fair Haven, SunEast and Freepoint have given the commission notice that they will file for a certificate of public good in July, Wills said. So far, that project has not seen organized opposition, according to Wills, and no one has submitted public comments to the commission about the project. If it’s approved, construction would also begin in 2025.
A 50-megawatt solar array, which would be the state’s largest, has been proposed for parcels of land abutting West Road and Slang Road in Panton. Seen on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Wills expects to file a petition for a certificate of public good for the Panton project, named Viridis, by the end of the year, and he expects construction to begin in 2026 if it’s approved.
SunEast and Freepoint don’t have a contract with a buyer for any of the projects. They bid each project into a recent request for proposals from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, Wills said. The companies expect to hear back this summer.
Many opponents of the Panton project are frustrated that the power wouldn’t be sold in state — and therefore, may not contribute to Vermont’s statewide climate goals.
But Wills said it would be difficult to sell the power in-state because the developers can’t compete with the cheaper energy from Hydro-Quebec that Vermont utilities are already buying.
“The legislative changes that are out there would create opportunity for us to sell to GMP,” Wills said, referring to the recently vetoed bill, “but the current regime has us competing directly with existing Hydro-Quebec hydroelectricity, and you can’t compete with a new project against a fully depreciated project. It’s never going to work.”
Concerns from Panton residents
Many Panton residents have spoken out against the project, concerned that it wouldn’t directly serve them or their community. The town has an existing 5-megawatt solar array, which takes up about 30 acres, and has already exceeded the town’s goals for renewable energy production through 2050, said Rudd, the development review board chair.
Panton has published what Vermont law calls an “enhanced energy plan,” which designates an area of Panton for energy projects. Having such a plan gives towns a greater stake in the Public Utility Commission’s decision-making process.
SunEast tried to locate its project within the town’s preferred area, but the farmer who owned property within the area did not want to move forward with a contract, according to Wills. SunEast later adjusted the location of the project to help it comply with the town’s plan as much as possible, Wills said. Now the site “encompasses a portion, probably the lower 30 or 40%, of their preferred energy area.”
A 50-megawatt solar array, which would be the state’s largest, has been proposed for parcels of land abutting West Road and Slang Road in Panton. Seen on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Panton’s development review board plans to vote in June on whether to adjust the area designated for energy projects so that it fits SunEast’s proposal, but it appears unlikely that the board would vote in favor of the adjustment. Rudd said she hasn’t “talked to anyone” who is in favor of the project.
The project could move forward even if it isn’t sited in the town’s preferred area, but that could make securing approval from the Public Utility Commission more challenging.
Panton resident Sharon Ashcraft, who has organized a group of people opposed to the project called “No Mega Solar,” pointed to the project’s proximity to the Dead Creek Wildlife Management Area, which is important habitat for migrating birds and other wildlife, as a concern.
Sharon Ashcraft is opposed to a proposed 50-megawatt solar array near her home in Panton. Seen on Wednesday, May 29, 2024. Part of the proposed site abuts the treeline (center left) seen in the distance.Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Ashcraft also said she’s worried the industrial nature of the project would change the character of the town.
“We just don’t think that’s the best use of this area,” she said. “Tourism in Vermont is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, economic factors. And something like this, with people going up and down the 22A corridor — people come to Vermont for the open rural landscape, and if that’s going to disappear, that’s going to affect the statewide economy.”
Rudd is also worried about the appearance of the project. In mid-May, standing at a quiet intersection between two big farm fields that would host the solar panels, she gestured up the sloped land to VT-22A, a 45-mile-long highway that runs along through west central Vermont.
“You can’t screen this from above,” she said.
Others have cited the project’s placement on active agricultural land. Most of the land included in the proposal, owned by the Marszalkowski family, is used to grow soy, corn and wheat, according to Sam Marszalkowski, a Rutland resident who spoke to VTDigger on behalf of her family members who farm the land. They sell their products locally, to feed companies and directly to farmers, she said.
But the family members who farm the land do not own it, according to a letter to Panton officials from Alex Marszalkowski, who identified himself as the trustee of Mary’s Trust, which owns the farm. The leasing of land would provide funding to support nursing home expenses for Mary Marszalkowski, Alex’s grandmother, he wrote in the letter. Sam Marszalkowski declined to speak with VTDigger about the farm’s ownership structure.
Michael Petrie, a cyclist who lives in Vergennes, pedals past the site of a proposed 50-megawatt solar array in Panton on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. “In my opinion, it seems like an awfully big project for such a little town.” Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Alex Marszalkowski lives in Rhode Island, where he is a state representative, while Joseph Marszalkowski, Sam’s brother, and their father, Richard Marszalkowski, actively farm the land.
SunEast first entered into a contract in 2018 to construct a solar project with the members of the Marszalkowski family who operate Mary’s Trust, according to Wills and town land records. Sam Marszalkowski said her immediate family members didn’t learn about the contract until the second half of 2023. Among the members of the family who are actively farming the land, there is “great concern” about the project, Sam said.
“The main concern isn’t with solar power itself, as it’s clear that it’s a vital and promising renewable energy source,” she said. “The main issue lies in the lack of transparency surrounding such major, extensive solar projects.”
Mary Rudd, chair of Panton’s design review board and planning commision, examines a map at the site of a proposed 50-megawatt solar array in Panton on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
“How can we build up a local infrastructure that has the input from residents, environmentalists, the state of Vermont itself, and then develop from there, versus an out-of-state company coming in trying to sink their claws, so to speak, on what is going to benefit another part of our country?” she said.
Rudd, too, said many of the town’s questions have gone unanswered by the solar developers.
Wills said SunEast is still finalizing the details of the project, in part because the company recently moved it in an attempt to comply with the town’s energy plan. They held an informational meeting for residents earlier in May and plan to hold another meeting next month, he said. More information about the exact size of the project, the number of panels used and other details will become available as the company prepares to file its petition with the Public Utility Commission later this year.
Necessary crops
As the United States attempts to electrify cars, homes and businesses, those concerned about climate change often cite the need to generate that electricity using carbon-free sources, like solar.
Those who oppose the projects in Panton and Shaftsbury say they aren’t opposed to solar in general, but want to ensure that projects are sited thoughtfully, without impacts to the local culture or environment.
A 50-megawatt solar array, which would be the state’s largest, has been proposed for parcels of land abutting West Road and Slang Road in Panton. Seen on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Ashcraft, who opposes the Panton project, is concerned that large solar companies are “targeting rural communities, because that’s where the land is.”
Bill McKibben, an Addison County resident, author and activist who advocates for renewable energy, said at “first blush,” the project seemed “like a good idea to me.”
In terms of environmental impact, the crops being produced on the land now, he said, are ones “that we really don’t need very badly,” but “clean electrons is a crop that we use an immense amount of here.”
“We have a huge carbon debt to the rest of the world, because we’ve been using fossil fuel to produce power for a very long time,” he said.
A 50-megawatt solar array, which would be the state’s largest, has been proposed for parcels of land abutting West Road and Slang Road in Panton. Seen on Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger
Ashcraft said solar panels could instead be placed on the rooftops of schools and shopping centers, and over parking lots. “It’s already land that’s been developed, but isn’t being put to good use,” she said.
Peter Sterling, executive director of the trade group Renewable Energy Vermont, said placing projects on rooftops is often more expensive, and the state’s net metering program “doesn’t really make that scalable.”
“We clearly need to come up with a way to make sure those projects are affordable and produce affordable power. That’s important,” Sterling said. “There’s also the balance of putting some larger projects, which generally produce cheaper power — you know, economies of scale and all — into appropriately cited spaces, preferably ones that are already open.”
Read the story on VTDigger here: In western Vermont, small town residents weigh large scale solar projects.