The savings in energy costs is projected to be more than $2 million over 20 years.
LUDLOW – The Board of Selectmen has signed a contract with Borrego Solar Systems of Lowell for a 20-year contract for the lease of 14 acres of the town landfill for a photovoltaic generation system.
Borrego Solar Systems of Lowell will lease the landfill from the town for 20 years for the installation of solar panels on the capped town landfill on Holyoke Street for the production of electricity to be sold to Western Massachusetts Electric Co.
“This will save the town $140,000 a year,” said James P. “Chip” Harrington, chair of the town’s Energy Committee.
He said that in exchange for the lease of property to the solar company the town will get a credit for its electricity purchases.
Electricity now costs the town 9 cents per killowatt hour, Harrington said. Estimates are that the town would come down to 4 or 5 cents per kilowatt hour, he said.
Town Meeting member Joseph Santos had asked whether the capped landfill would not be better used for athletic fields.
Harrington said such a proposal would require the relocation of ventilation pipes at the landfill. He said parents are unlikely to support having their children play sports on a capped landfill.
Borrego was chosen after eight competitive bids were received, Harrington said.
At a special Town Meeting last October, the proposal to lease 14 acres of the landfill to Borrego Solar Systems was approved by a majority show of hands, subject to the negotiating of a contract by a committee.
The project must still be permitted by the state Department of Environmental Protection, Harrington said.
Harrington had estimated that permitting by the state could take approximately six months, followed by a six-month construction timetable.
The town should start realizing the cost savings in fiscal 2014, Harrington said.
Over the life of the 20-year contract with the town, there should be “over $2 million in savings,” Harrington said.