Powering up
Portage solar field under construction
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Known for its towering wind turbines, Portage can also add solar panels -- more than 230,000 of them -- to its list of clean energy projects as Maple Hill Solar takes shape on the hillside behind a collection of homes and farms on the outskirts of town.
Competitive Power Ventures started work last year on the 800-acre site and projected the 100-megawatt solar farm would be complete by May of this year. Due to ongoing supply chain issues, though, the project is running behind schedule.
Matthew Litchfield, director of external and regulatory affairs of CPV, said the company now expects work to be complete in 2023.
Litchfield said the solar industry has seen its share of issues in procuring supplies.
"The solar industry is certainly no exception -- working closely with our contractor and suppliers, we were able to navigate these issues to keep the project on track," he said.
Located on former coal mining land off Frankstown Road in Cambria County, the solar farm features thousands of panels, each projected to produce more than 530 watts of electricity.
The panels will interconnect with Penelec-owned transmission lines adjacent to the site, Litchfield said.
"Energy created from the project will serve Penelec customers as well as those served by PJM Interconnection, which oversees operation of the electric grid," he said.
According to CPV's website, the Portage project will bring in "new revenue that can be used toward local education and services."
While the former superintendent of the Portage Area School District isn't against the solar field, he disagrees with it being a revenue source for the school.
Eric Zelanko said with a $14 million budget and few businesses in Portage, the school district relies on property taxes.
Without homes or other buildings on the property, there isn't much that can be taxed.
When he approached Cambria County about the tax revenues for the district, he was told that solar panels are treated as personal property, much like someone's lawn tractor, and are not taxable.
"They can tax the fence and maybe the land it's on, but not the solar panels themselves," Zelanko said. "I support the project and green energy, but just make it really worthwhile for the community."
The property taxes on the solar field will only bring in about $2,000 a year, he said, which is less than the wind turbines and homes.
"They took acres of potential development that would have gotten more revenue from houses on the land," Zelanko lamented, noting that the 22 wind turbines in the Portage Area School District generate $45,000 in property taxes.
"The solar panels need to generate property taxes like the windmills for it to really benefit the school district and the area," Zelanko said.
Portage Township Supervisors Chairman Ben Selapack supports the solar farm, saying it helps out the community and puts the former mining land to good use.
Selapack said CPV purchased the land the solar panels sit on and he believes the township could see up to $50,000 a year from the project.
When construction plans were announced, the Maple Hill solar project was billed as one of the first solar projects of its kind in western Pennsylvania and once complete, is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 18,000 homes. The solar field will offset 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year by displacing older, less efficient electric generation and it will add to the clean energy mix in the commonwealth, according to company information.
The project ties into the Penelec/First Energy Grid and will fund upgrades to the transmission lines in the immediate area.
According to the project description on Competitive Power Ventures' website, the project was to create 250 jobs during the construction phase, with local firms and individuals hired for engineering, site preparation and construction, inspection and maintenance during the solar farm's operation.
It was expected these workers would provide an influx in spending at local businesses, but one local store owner hasn't seen that happen.
Jeff Stager, owner of Stager's Store, said he hasn't noticed much difference in the number of customers since the solar field construction began.
"Sometimes I see the workers in the store, but not regularly," he said.
Mirror Staff Writer Cati Keith is at 814-946-7535.