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Date: 4/27/2021
EASTHAMPTON – Over the past few months, the city of Easthampton has been discussing an amendment on solar installations on certain new construction for the future.
City Councilors and Ordinance Committee members Salem Derby and Owen Zaret proposed a zoning ordinance during a Feb 23. meeting that would require new construction and expansion projects 10,000 square-feet or multi-unit housing over 10 units to include solar power in 50 percent or more of usable roof space, or its equivalent. The general proposal was approved in a 3-0 vote by the ordinance committee
After talking with Easthampton’s city planner, as well as members of the city’s Energy Advisory Committee, Zaret announced during a joint meeting on April 13 that the city will take a deeper dive into the logistics of an ordinance such as this one.
“I think that this measure, while well-intended, definitely was a lot more complicated than I certainly anticipated it to be,” said Zaret. “I think there’s a lot of framework that needs to be reviewed and amended for solar in general.”
Zaret added that he would like to work with the Easthampton Planning Board and Energy Advisory Committee to review the city’s current solar ordinance put together a more overarching amendment.
The hope, according to Zaret, is to have a new proposal sent to ordinance committee by late summer and the planning board by the fall. The ordinance committee voted 3-0 during the April 13 meeting to withdraw the original proposal without prejudice.
Zach Swan, the business development manager for Northeast Solar, spoke to Reminder Publishing about the feasibility of including solar power in 50 percent of usable space.
“It’s feasible … there’s nuances to the interconnection process with the utility companies,” said Swan. “The town can propose one thing, but then there’s regulatory processes that might not make that feasible.”
There are different types of phases for electrical services, according to Swan. Theoretically, a town could have an ordinance saying they can use 50 percent of usable space, and then depending on what type of space the project has, the town could be forced to do a fairly large system based on roof space. The incentives may not be as advantageous as imagined, in some scenarios.
“It will be good if the town can consult a local installer to help give them some guidance,” said Swan. “It’s great that they are asking for 50 percent, but it might not be feasible on the utility side.”