WESTFIELD – City officials are finalizing the language of a 20-year solar array lease package which will soon be submitted to the City Council for review.
The lease would authorize Citizens Energy Corporation to construct a 2.5-megawatt solar array on the former Twiss Street landfill which has been closed and capped.
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Thursday that the Boston-based Citizens Energy, which is operating two similar solar farms in Agawam, was selected as the vendor for the project because of its experience in the field of renewable energy.
Citizens Energy was one of three firms which responded to a request for proposals released by the city last summer after Axio Power Inc. withdrew from a previous lease agreement for a solar array at Twiss Street.
“This is a project we’ve been trying to do since I came into office,” Knapik said.
Health Director Joseph Rouse reported Wednesday to the Board of Health that Citizens Energy will assume responsibility of maintaining the 10 acres of leased property on the capped landfill.
“There will be cost avoidance to the city because (Citizens Energy) has to maintain that leased area under terms of the agreement,” Rouse said. “They are aware of the restrictions of and conditions for maintaining the landfill cap.”
Knapik said that the city is anticipating revenue of $75,000 a year for the lease and an additional $7,500 in lieu of tax payment annually to the city. The city will purchase the solar power which will reduce energy consumption at the Twiss Street Transfer Station by an estimated 43 percent.
“This project will provide a new source of revenue for operations and allow us to diversify our energy portfolio and build some certainty as it relates to our energy costs going forward,” Knapik said in a prepared text released in October.
City Purchaser Tammy Tefft said the lease agreement is still being finalized, but that it may be ready to submit to the City Council shortly.
“I’m hoping to get it to the (City) Council for their next meeting (on April 17), and if it’s not ready then, for their May 1 meeting,” Tefft said. “The Law Department is still reviewing the lease contract language and is preparing the resolution which will be submitted to the Council.”
The City Council has to approve any lease agreement longer than three years.
