North East supervisors sign off on CleanChoice Energy solar project. What do residents say?

NORTH EAST — The three-member Board of Supervisors granted a conditional-use permit to CleanChoice Energy Monday after the renewable energy provider outlined more details about its plans to build a 25-acre solar farm west of Route 89 and south of Crawford Road.

Officials with the Washington D.C.-based company said they needed the conditional-use permit under the property's residential zoning in order to start work in early 2024.

Supervisor Fredrick Shunk said he was encouraged by the company's responsiveness to both the board's and residents' concerns.

"It met the conditions," he said. "Most of the people in the audience were for it. It is a smaller project. It doesn't have any batteries or anything of the sort. I can only speak as one supervisor, but I felt like the conditions that were put on the project covered what the people were concerned about."

The 5-megawatt solar facility would tie into a Penelec distribution line that runs along Route 89, and produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 1,000 homes.

Grif Jones, a senior project manager for CleanChoice, and engineer Daniel Long updated residents and officials about changes to the proposed project. Many of the changes were made at the request of supervisors.

CleanChoice Energy's plan

There will be two solar arrays, which are groups of solar panels, on the property. In between them will be a 20-by-40-foot pad with an inverter and transformer, which will stand between 5 and 10 feet, Long said.

The solar panels will be 100 feet or more from the road. A 7-foot fence will be around the solar farm. Areas where the panels would otherwise be visible from Crawford Road and Route 89 will also be blocked by trees. The panels will also be more than 300 feet from any other structure that's not part of the project, including a PennDOT salt dome and garage on Route 89.

Long and Jones said there won't be glare from the solar panels at any point throughout the year. They won't collect dust, nor will they need to be cleaned regularly.

As for noise pollution, Long noted that supervisors asked that sound be kept to 45 decibels, which is the equivalent to the hum of a refrigerator. In the latest project design, that noise level will fall within about 35 feet of the equipment pad, which is in the middle of the site. There should be no noise on the perimeter of the site.

The project will only take a few months to construct. CleanChoice would have the land for 30 years after which time it would revert back to its agricultural use.

There could be as many as 12,800 panels on the site, but that will depend on the size of the panel chosen for the project.

Jones said that because the land has been used for agricultural purposes in the past and therefore has been taxed at a discounted rate, the solar farm will not only generate more tax dollars for the county, township and school district because of the improvements to the land but also because it will be taxed at a higher rate than it is now.

He also said that CleanChoice will provide the township with a bond that would cover all costs to revert the property back to its current status should anything happen to the company itself.

"There's no danger to anyone of being left holding the bag," Jones said.

More: Solar farms suggested for North East, Girard and Washington townships. Here's what we know

Residents express concerns, voice support

Many residents who attended Monday's meeting applauded Jones and Long following their presentation. Several residents of Crawford Road, however, peppered the company with questions about storm water run off, the potential use of hazardous materials, dust collecting on the panels, and the use of harmful substances in the panels themselves.

Township resident Carol Strine, who lives on Crawford Road, expressed several concerns, primarily over the use of PFAS, or Polyfluoroalkyl substances, in the panels and the potential for those substances to leech into the ground and water supply.

"The EPA says the current known health risks include incidents of cancer, liver and kidney disease, which can be fatal, reproductive issues, immunity deficiencies, and hormonal disruption," she said. "We need in writing proof of no PFAS in solar panel components. To date no company has put this in writing."

Long, however, had already told supervisors that such substances would not be present in the panels CleanChoice uses on the site and that supervisors will have to sign off on the specifications of whatever panel is used.

Citing a University of Michigan study that says PFAS are not used in modern solar panels, Long said the company "would not propose a panel that would include any PFAS."

Strine, however, said she had other concerns about the potential for a fire at the site, or for dust to collect on the panels and then get into the air to cause respiratory problems. She called solar and wind power "unnecessary and problematic since they are unpredictable."

"North East residents should not be victims of these aggressive, misguided energy policies, especially since none of the energy produced by these solar panels will be used for North East," she said. "Our rural countryside and quality of life is at stake."

But another township resident, Hugh McCartney, questioned Strine, asking her what she thought about fracking — she said she had no opinion on it — and dispelling some of the concerns Strine lodged about solar energy. McCartney has solar panels at his home.

"I have never had to wash my solar panels because of days like today," he said, referencing rain that had fallen throughout the day. "They got washed off. There's no toxic stuff coming off of them."

Is it worth the energy? What Erie-area homeowners need to know about solar panels

Erie County Council candidate Chris Drexel, a Democrat running in the 5th District, which includes North East, said the community could benefit from the tax money and that he trusted that supervisors wouldn't do anything to harm people or the environment.

"My kids are going to live in this area so I really have a concern for the environment," he said. "I'd put one of these right down the street from me."

Jones said the North East project is one of 20 that CleanChoice is pursuing in Pennsylvania. All but two of them are 5 megawatts. One project is 10 megawatts and another is 20 megawatts. It has no active solar farms in the state yet, but it does have wind farms.

More: Solar panels at Beach 8 will help take Presque Isle State Park to net-zero energy usage

The North East project is one of three solar projects proposed for Erie County in recent years, the others being in Girard and Washington Township.

In Pennsylvania, residents have the option to choose the provider of the electricity they use.

That electricity is delivered to homes and businesses via a distribution line.

Penelec, a FirstEnergy Corp. company, is one of 11 distributors of power in Pennsylvania. They buy electricity from a supplier on behalf of the customer if they don't actively choose an alternate on their own. There are more than 100 suppliers in Pennsylvania.

Opinion: Farms and forests are short-sighted locations for solar projects

Matthew Rink can be reached at mrink@timesnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: CleanChoice Energy receives permit for North East, PA solar project