Solar farms suggested for North East, Girard and Washington townships. Here's what we know
Grapevines, cornstalks and other crops already rise from the earth of Erie County fields, but a new kind of farm — one that feeds people's need for electricity — could join them in the next couple years.
A third solar farm has been proposed in the county, this one in North East Township. It follows a project announced in 2021 for Girard Township and another in 2020 for Washington Township in Erie County along with Cambridge, Cussewago and Venango townships in Crawford County.
One of the companies that wants to develop a solar farm here, Cypress Creek Renewables, says on its website's FAQ page that a solar farm can be really large — as in 100-plus acres — or relatively small, such as 10-plus acres. Small solar farms typically generate between 2 and 20 megawatts of solar energy. A 2-megawatt solar farm is typically located on approximately 20 acres and can power between 500 and more than 600 homes, according to Cypress Creek, which has proposed the Girard project.
Another company, Lightsource bp, is behind multiple projects in Erie and Crawford counties.
"The primary benefits (of solar) are addressing the climate issues, energy independence, low-cost energy, renewable energy, moving away from fossil fuels," said Nick Basile, a director of development for Lightsource.
He said his company knows it snows a lot and gets cold in the Erie region but also believes that solar can work here.
Grif Jones, a senior project manager for CleanChoice Energy, which has made the newest proposal, agrees that snow isn't a problem, especially since the solar panels are tilted.
"Most of the snow slides off," he said.
Allaying concerns about glare, he said the panels aren't like mirrors. The panels absorb sunlight, he said. If they reflected it like a mirror, solar farms wouldn't make money, Jones said.
He also said solar farms produce little noise and aren't an eyesore.
"We don't stand out as much as wind farms," Jones said.
Construction has yet to start on any of these proposed solar energy projects in Erie and Crawford counties.
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North East's new solar panel project
CleanChoice Energy wants to develop a 25-acre solar farm on 90 acres of private land west of Route 89 and south of Crawford Road in North East Township, according to minutes from an Aug. 1 township planning commission meeting. CleanChoice is based in Washington, D.C.
Jones, who is based in Harrisburg, has made several presentations to the North East Planning Commission. He told the Erie Times-News that CleanChoice is suggesting a 3- to 5-megawatt facility that could have between 8,000 and 13,000 solar panels that would generate power and tie into a Penelec line.
Some of the details, he said, will depend on a local solar ordinance and whether Pennsylvania passes community solar legislation. With community solar, customers can either buy or lease a portion of the solar panels in an array and then typically receive an electric bill credit for electricity generated by their share of the community solar system, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Community solar bills have been introduced in the Pennsylvania House and Senate but have yet to be passed.
After Jones' first presentation, North East's planning commission continued to seek more information from him and another Pennsylvania township with a solar farm while working on a list of conditions that could be the basis for a future ordinance related to solar projects.
"They were quite happy to have it come in but they want to do it right," Jones said about a solar project in North East.
James "Jay" Jobczynski, North East Township's zoning administrator and code enforcement officer, said the commission hadn't taken any action on the project as of its Oct. 3 meeting. Approval would be needed from the planning commission and township supervisors before the solar farm would proceed, he said.
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Jones said he expects to return to North East for a public hearing on an ordinance in the next few months and then make a formal application to the township, probably in early 2023.
Particularly if community solar legislation were passed this autumn, the North East Solar project could be started in mid- to late-2023 and be operational in 2024, he said.
Jones said his company looks for sites that have good electrical power lines to connect into but aren't in the middle of a large neighborhood development, preferring more rural areas where there will be minimal disruption. But he said CleanChoice isn't looking to go in and bulldoze grape vines. The site of the proposed North East project is an old apple/pear orchard that hasn't been maintained, according to planning commission minutes. Jones said the land slopes gently to the south and is "good for solar."
The North East solar farm would have a 7- or 8-foot high locked fence around it to keep trespassers out, he said. Green buffers would be provided from any residence it borders, according to commission minutes.
Jones said the project would provide a financial gain for the landowner who leases the property to CleanChoice and for local taxing bodies, including the township and school district. Once a solar farm is completed, the site would be taxed at a higher rate as developed land, Jones said. His company would pay those taxes.
"There's definitely a significant increase in tax," he said.
According to the Aug. 1 planning commission meeting minutes, "there are no government funds or subsidies in this project" and "local tax revenues will be increased and no services will be required."
The solar farm also would create some construction jobs as well as ongoing maintenance jobs, Jones said, with the land requiring regular mowing.
The solar installation would be expected to last 30 years and CleanChoice would provide decommissioning and restoration of the land back to agriculture at the end of the project. Jones said the company would lodge a bond to cover the cost.
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Panels still in the works in Girard
Cypress Creek Renewables, which has corporate offices in California and North Carolina, made a presentation in January 2021 to the Girard Township Planning Commission. Cypress Creek wanted to put a 20-megawatt development with solar panels on the former Divine Word Seminary/Mercyhurst University property along Route 20 in a project called Erie Solar. The land is privately owned and would be leased by Cypress Creek.
According to minutes from the 2021 meeting, the project would have had a nine-month construction period with the solar panels possibly operational in late 2022. The minutes also said the project would include three full-time jobs after startup and the equipment would have a 35- to 40-year life.
At an August 2021 planning commission meeting, township officials said the project could benefit Girard with no effect on township services and would increase property taxes on that land. They said Cypress would pay the property taxes and not the landowner.
In October 2021, Girard Township's planning commission recommended for approval of a land development plan from Cypress. Supervisors conditionally approved the plan Oct. 12, 2021, with some further agreements, permitting and planning required, according to the meeting minutes.
David Weightman, then a senior project developer for Cypress Creek Renewables, told the Erie Times-News for an October 2021 article that the solar panels would measure about 3 feet by 6 feet and would be mounted 12 feet above the ground. They would rotate to follow the sun and generate about 20 megawatts of electricity annually, or enough to power about 3,000 homes.
Weightman is no longer with Cypress Creek, but Parker Sloan, senior community and economic development manager for the company, said in a recent email that "the solar array area footprint will be in the 185-acre range." Sloan said about 3,340 homes would be powered with the electricity generated.
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Early this year, Girard Township supervisors accepted extensions for the project from Cypress Creek before the company withdrew its proposal in April due to state Department of Environmental Protection permit issues that have since been resolved.
"They withdrew at our request," Girard Supervisor Pete Dion said in mid-October, adding that supervisors weren't going to provide any more extensions until Cypress Creek resolved the issue with DEP.
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DEP spokesman Tom Decker said the Waterways and Wetlands Program did deny the first permit application submitted for the Erie Solar project in Girard Township. He said the denial was due to technical deficiencies with both the erosion and sediment control plan and the post-construction stormwater plan.
Decker said Erie Solar addressed the deficiencies, submitted a new National Pollution Discharge Elimination System application, and was issued a permit Sept. 19.
Dion said supervisors haven't taken any official action on the project since approving the development application withdrawal in April.
"Now we're just waiting for them to resubmit," Dion said in mid-October.
Cypress Creek's Sloan said in an Oct. 21 email that "the project is still alive. We are working to tie out final approvals and permits for construction."
Sloan said construction could start in the first or second quarter of 2023, with the solar panels operational in the first quarter of 2024.
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Change in plans for Washington Township panels
Lightsource bp bought what was known as the Crawford Solar project from Pattern Energy. Plans have evolved from a single 116-megawatt project in Washington Township in Erie and in Cambridge, Cussewago and Venango townships in Crawford County to multiple 20-megawatt projects.
Snowdrop Solar would feature a 20-megawatt solar farm in Washington Township roughly bordered by Kinter Hill, Arneman and Beason roads and South Perry Lane in Erie County, Lightsource's Basile said. Sycamore Trail Solar project would have a capacity of 20 megawatts in Venango Township along Plank Road between Hecker and Skeltontown roads in Crawford County. A third project is still in the development process, he said.
The two solar farms would each produce enough energy to power around 4,000 homes, Basile said. He added that the amount of solar energy production would avoid about 27,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent to about 6,000 fuel-burning cars.
Proposals for both sites also include plans to graze sheep around the solar panels and to plant pollinator gardens, Basile said. Small livestock grazing and beekeeping are common at Lightsource bp solar sites, according to information on its website. Basile referred to Nittany 1, a Lightsource bp solar site in Franklin County providing power to Penn State University.
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The original Erie and Crawford project with Houston-based Pattern Energy was announced in 2020 on land belonging to multiple property owners. Lightsource bp is a British Petroleum subsidiary with offices in Philadelphia, San Francisco, Denver and Austin. Basile is based out of Saratoga Springs, New York, but is originally from Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
A Pattern spokesman said in February 2021 that the company expected to apply to Washington Township for permission to install the panels shortly. Washington Township Council had adopted an ordinance regulating solar energy systems in the township prior to the Pattern proposal. Venango Township supervisors on June 1, 2021, approved a Standalone Solar Farm Ordinance, according to information on the township website. Cambridge Township in November 2021 amended a 2016 ordinance to provide regulations for solar energy systems, according to its website.
After Lightsource bp took over, it had plans to install solar panels in three separate projects on acreage already leased, said Jessie Audette, who was a senior director of development at the company but no longer works for it. He had told the Erie Times-News for an October 2021 article. Audette had said Lightsource would utilize about 900 to 1,000 acres of land, with construction expected to begin in late 2022 or early 2023.
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Washington Township Manager Norman Willow said the township had not officially received a formal plan from Lightsource as of mid-October and didn't anticipate it would for another three to six months.
"They've not submitted anything to us," he said.
He said any project would need to go through the land development planning process, including two meetings of the township's planning council and two meetings of the Washington Township Council.
"Our goal is to move through the permitting process within the next year for both of these projects," Basile said. "We then aim to start construction in 2023, finish in 2024 and generate low-cost, clean, renewable electricity for the next 30 to 40 years."
Willow said there have been a handful of people who are against the project and others who have supported it. "Both sides are well represented," he said.
On Oct. 13, Lightsource had representatives from its development, environmental, engineering, construction and community relations teams at a public meeting it held in Cambridge Springs. Basile said more than 100 people attended from the community to ask questions and give input. Additionally, he said he has been meeting with neighbors, participating landowners, businesses and schools since the beginning of the year to provide information on the solar farm projects and gather feedback.
Venango Township's website has links to information about Crawford Solar, including a November 2021 presentation from Lightsource bp. Venango Supervisor Mark Stafford said his township had received one proposal but isn't doing anything with it right now because the township is creating a new ordinance related to solar energy projects. He said supervisors are "just trying to protect the township."
Debra Merritt, the secretary, treasurer and zoning officer for Cambridge Township, said officials there hadn't heard anything from the solar company since November 2021. She said Lightshource hasn't applied for any permits in Cambridge.
Officials from Cussewago Township couldn't be reached for comment.
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Dana Massing can be reached at dmassing@timesnews.com. Follow her on Twitter @ETNmassing.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County solar farms planned for North East, Girard, Washington
