DALTON, Mass. — Citizens' Energy Corporation announced its intention to resurrect its plans to install a solar array on the Warren Landfill.

 

Citizens' Energy Corporation submitted a site plan review and special permit application under the large scale solar installation bylaw during the Planning Board meeting on Wednesday night. 

 

The company started this project about nine years ago and the entire project was fully permitted back in 2014 but was declared not viable because the electrical grid could not accommodate it, TRC Companies, Inc. Sr. Director Max Lamson said. 

 

TRC Companies, Inc. is representing Citizens' Energy for solar permitting matters. 

 

With recent grid infrastructure upgrades, the project can now be completed. 

 

Lamson said they will also be filing a post-closure use landfill permit with the Department of Environmental Protection. 

 

The corporation met with Town Manager Thomas Hutchinson a couple of weeks ago, and he suggested that they attend a planning board meeting to inform them that this project is coming back,. 

 

"I think maybe one of you was on the board when the 2014 project was permitted," Emily Byrne, senior director of Citizens Solar, a division of Citizens Energy Corporation, said. "So I just thought I wanted to jog your memory a bit and just let you know that it's gonna be very similar in nature. You know, above-ground ballasts and solar panels, nothing going into the cap." 

 

"The only change will be that there'll be a battery associated with the project. And that's due to the fact that that's mass regulations for developing solar these days. Is to have a battery included with your projects."

 

The battery stores energy and then the battery discharges the energy at night. A company will monitor it to determine the best time to deploy it back to the grid, she said.

 

Hutchinson advised the board of the need to create a new grid-scale battery energy storage systems bylaw due to changing technology. 

 

The Planning Board will discuss this new bylaw, the Citizen's Energy project, and review the town's sign by-law at its next meeting on Jan. 18. 

 

In other news, the board approved the renewal of Nichols Sand and Gravel, located at 190 Cleveland Road, after conducting a site visit to check for compliance. They found no issues.

 

The planning board advised a resident inquiring to rezone their split zone property to be commercial to apply for a variance.