Department of Energy Resources Mark Sylvia said Pittsfield has been a leader in the state's push for solar.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Energy or environmental policies don't have to deter economic development.

 

On Friday, commissioners of the state environmental and energy departments used the 1.58-megawatt photovoltaic array at the wastewater treatment center to make that case.

 

With solar generating as much as 80 percent of the plant's energy usage, the state officials said that all represents dollars helping the local economy.

 

"Every dollar we save on energy is a dollar that isn't being sent outside of Massachusetts," said Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner David Cash.

 

The treatment center requires a heavy energy usage. Instead of paying out of state utilities companies or importing natural gas, the solar array can sometimes produce more energy than the plan even needs. State Sen. Benjamin Downing says that savings translates to the city budget, meaning fewer city workers lose their jobs.

 

"We aren't putting money into an envelop and sending it off to a utility company," Downing said.

 

Department of Energy Resources Commissioner Mark Sylvia said while the state has provided the overall policies in both the environmental and energy fields, the local communities are responsible for making it happen.

 

"Pittsfield has been a real leader for a number of years," Sylvia said, as the city's array was one of the first and largest in the state.

 

Now, according to Cash, other communities and even states will be looking at Pittsfield to copy it. The city and the state have found a way to turn land that would have otherwise sat empty into a revenue generator.

 

David Cash said the state is going through an "energy revolution."

"It is remarkable what is happening all over the state. We think that this is going to continue to explode," Cash said, calling the trend toward renewable energies an "energy revolution."

 

That revolution is often credited somewhat to Gov. Deval Patrick, who set the goal of moving the state's amount of solar power from 3 megawatts to 1,600 by 2020. Currently, the state has slightly more than 500 megawatts.

 

"Pittsfield and the Berkshires have been the lead on this," Downing said.

 

The city has two significantly sized arrays contributing. Julia Sabourin, who represented Mayor Daniel Bianchi, said that is just another example of how Pittsfield is "an innovative city."

 

Friday's stop by the commissioners was one of six throughout the state. The two department heads took a "summer solstice solar tour" starting with the run rising at 5 a.m. in Chatham. They then went to Barnstable, Pembroke, Worcester and Easthampton before reaching Pittsfield.

 

The tour was focused on solar arrays on landfills, contaminated lands and wastewater or drinking facilities - land that otherwise wouldn't serve much of a purpose. Cash said that while there were six visits on Friday, those stops only represented thousands of arrays across the state contributing the state's renewable energy portfolio.