HUNTINGBURG — Soon, Huntingburg’s industrial district could be powered by the sun.
The Huntingburg Common Council and Energy Superintendent John Reutepohler have been in discussion with the Indiana Municipal Power Agency about the possibility of a solar farm within the city.
During Thursday night’s council meeting, the group listened to a presentation from IMPA representative Dan Worl, who provided more details about the proposed park and presented a potential lease agreement. Worl said IMPA would like to begin construction in May or June.
Solar parks are already in place in Richmond, Frankton and Rensselear. Other parks are either in the works or planned for Tell City, Crawfordsville and Peru.
The one-megawatt farm would share a 20-acre parcel of land where the city’s north substation is located at Chestnut Street and Phoenix Drive. Worl said the 4,000-panel farm will likely take up about 8 acres, which would be surrounded by a 7-foot chain link fence, much like the fencing around the substation. The fixed panels — they do not rotate as the sun arcs over the sky — aim to capture 17 percent of the day’s sunlight. Current parks with rotating panels are experiencing maintenance issues, Worl noted.
All the energy created, Worl noted, will stay in Huntingburg and service the industrial grid. Having that extra megawatt will help, especially during the summer during peak usage. By having another source of energy, IMPA will be able to absorb more of that peak usage instead of passing the rates on to customers, ultimately saving the community money.
Worl said IMPA is looking for Huntingburg to enter into a 30-year lease with 59 one-year extensions to be decided upon annually by city officials.
Worl believes technology can carry the solar park between 40 and 45 years. The lease would cost IMPA $1 per year, an amount standard among such IMPA agreements.
“We will keep using this until the panels are no longer cost-effective to leave them there,” Worl said.
At the end of the lease, IMPA would be required to remove all equipment and restore the land to its current state.
“We want this place to be a showcase for you,” Worl said.
The solar park would require a $2 million investment from IMPA. To recoup costs, IMPA is asking for a standard 10-year abatement with 100 percent abatement on the first year and the abatement decreasing by 10 percent each year thereafter. Once the abatement expires, the city would annually receive roughly $13,000 in lieu of taxes.
The IMPA is in the process of conducting environmental impact studies and topographical surveys.
“I’m very happy with the land that you’re offering,” Worl said.
City Attorney Phil Schneider said, should the council decide to proceed, language in the lease agreement would need to be tweaked and the land, which is being leased to a local farmer, would need to be subdivided and rezoned for industrial use.
“One of the very first steps is we need to identify what piece of ground IMPA would like so we can begin the subdivision process,” Schneider said.
Worl said he could have a tract of land in mind by Tuesday and can then relay that information to Mayor Denny Spinner at next week’s IMPA board meeting, which both Spinner and Reutepohler will be attending.
The board passed a motion to proceed with the process to subdivide the land and continue discussions with IMPA.
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