Solar array planned for Memorial Drive site
Date: 12/5/2012
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — A solar array may be heading to Memorial Drive and city residents will benefit from it.
Mayor Michael Bissonnette said that an offshoot of the non-profit Citizens Energy called Chicopee Solar LLC has been in negotiations with the Basilica of St. Stanislaus to use part of the 107 acres owned by the Basilica on Memorial Avenue for a photovoltaic array.
The array would use 20 acres of the parcel and would produce 2.5 megawatts of electricity or a little less than 1 percent of what the city uses, Bissonnette explained.
The mayor said the goal of the Chicopee Electric Light (CEL) is to have 20 percent of its power created by alternative means by the year 2020. CEL would buy the electricity generated by the solar farm. He added that in April 2013 CEL would assume control the hydroelectric facility on the Chicopee River, which adds to the alternative portfolio.
The rest of the parcel on Memorial Avenue would be available for other commercial development, Bissonnette said.
Besides the carbon-free electricity, Bissonnette said that over the 20-year lease of the property, the city would receive $1 million in lieu of tax payments.
If the Planning Board approves the plan, construction would begin in the spring.
The mayor added that CEL is developing a 5-megawatt solar array proposal for Westover Air Reserve Base. The plan would have CEL construct the facility and sell the electricity to the base, reducing the base's dependence on fossil fuel and making the base, which could help secure the base's future.
