A: The High River Energy Center has developed a proposal to establish a largescale solar energy facility located in Montgomery County, New York. The High River Energy Center would significantly contribute to New York’s efforts to meet New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s renewable energy goals.
A: The High River Energy Center will generate 90 megawatts of solar energy.
A: The High River Energy Center is expected to position Montgomery County as a leader in renewable energy and help New York meet its renewable energy goals.
A: Governor Cuomo announced that New York should produce half of its total power from renewable sources by 2030 and projects like this will help meet that need.
This new source of clean, renewable power produces no air or water pollution and is in line with the state’s Clean Energy Standard and Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) initiative, which is fostering new opportunities for renewable power that will help New York transform its energy generation system.
A: NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is a clean energy leader and is one of the largest wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S. NextEra Energy Resources is the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC is a subsidiary of Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). NextEra Energy, Inc. is a leading clean energy company with consolidated revenues of approximately $16.2 billion and approximately 14,700 employees in 30 states and Canada as of year-end 2016
A: Permitting and approval is overseen by New York State’s Article 10 process.
A: The Power NY Act of 2011 established a process for the siting of electric generating facilities and re-powering projects. As part of the process, a multi-agency Siting Board is charged with conducting the permitting process for power plants of 25 megawatts or greater. The Power NY Act also encourages investments in clean plants and affords communities more opportunities to participate in the siting process. Learn more…
A: As part of preliminary siting efforts, High River Energy Center has been conducting preliminary field surveys to document existing conditions within the Project Area boundaries. All equipment associated with these preliminary surveys was used on land within the Project Area with permission of the landowner, or from public right-of-ways. No equipment was or will be placed on properties outside of the Project Area, unless public right-of-ways are used.
A: As part of the Article 10 Application, aerial photography of the Project Area will be overlaid with proposed Project facilities, access and maintenance roads, and limits of clearing, in order to show the relationship with existing structures and vegetation cover types. Aerial photography is being collected via drone high-resolution photography for inclusion in the Application. Drones are also being utilized to collect topographic data of the Project Area. Any use of drone technology has been in conformance with applicable Federal Aviation Administration regulations.
A: The primary method of vegetation maintenance proposed at the High River Energy Center is through routine mowing. In select instances, such as an increase in weed population in a specific area, it may be necessary to utilize herbicides. If herbicides are used as part of the Project, they will be environmentally friendly and will be selected in accordance with applicable New York State regulations and applied by a State-certified applicator. High River Energy Center’s proposed maintenance routines will be explained in the Article 10 Application.
A: The Town of Florida’s zoning ordinance defines a setback as the distance (200 feet) from a front lot line, side lot line, or rear lot line of a parcel within which a free-standing or ground-mounted solar energy system is installed. Therefore, all solar panel arrays will be setback a minimum of 200 feet from all parcel lot lines. A perimeter security fence will be provided around all solar panel arrays as required by the Town of Florida’s zoning ordinance. Fencing is typically installed adjacent to the solar panel arrays but offset from the arrays to leave adequate spacing for access and/or maintenance purposes. Site plan drawings will be included in the Article 10 Application depicting proposed fence locations.
A: High River Energy Center currently plans to develop the Project in accordance with the applicable substantive requirements of local laws and ordinances, including § B 2 (Setback) of the Town of Florida – Article VIII Supplementary Regulations, Section 45.5 Solar Energy Systems and Equipment (Utility-Scale Solar Collector System), which states that “All utility-scale solar collector systems and associated buildings, accessory structures and equipment shall have a minimum setback from any property line of 200 feet.”
A: The installation of solar panel arrays is not anticipated to result in soil erosion issues. The solar panels are to be installed on racking systems, which are mounted to posts typically driven into the ground, thereby limiting the need for excavation. Additionally, following installation of the solar panel arrays, all disturbed areas are seeded with a low growing vegetation seed mixture to stabilize soils.
Grading and erosion control plans will address both the construction phase and permanent installations. An erosion and sediment control plan will be prepared as part of a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) to limit the possibility of soil erosion as required by New York State regulations. Erosion and sediment control Best Management Practices will be implemented, monitored and maintained throughout the construction and operation phases of the Project until impacted areas become stabilized. To facilitate soil stabilization, exposed soils will be seeded and mulched in a timely manner to reduce the risk of sedimentation events arising from storm events. As part of the SWPPP, an environmental monitor will be in place throughout the work period and during the restoration period in order to inspect and assess erosion control success, and to mitigate any unforeseen issues. It is expected that that state agency personnel will also be inspecting the stabilization measures. Throughout the lifetime of the facility, High River Energy Center will implement the installed stormwater management measures.
A: The judges are free to disagree and express their respective reasons in the recommended decision (“RD”) to be issued by the examiners. In addition, the associate examiner has the option of submitting a separate report of dissenting or concurring conclusions and recommendations. The Siting Board reviews the entire record, including the RD and any separate report.
A: The panels’ angular mounting allows most snow and ice to slide off the panels onto the ground once the sun rises and begins to warm the panels.
A: As part of its preparation of the Article 10 Application, High River will be reviewing available published studies that have been performed. People have been safely living and working around solar panels for decades. Solar panels are regularly installed on residential rooftops across the country as well as adjacent to homes and other structures. All construction and operation will occur within the Project Area boundaries. The most effective means of mitigating potential impacts is through optimal siting, adequate setbacks, and design of Project components. Discussion of general mitigation strategies such as design, appearance, siting, avoidance and layout will be discussed in the Application as well as any landscaping proposed for screening.
A: No homes will be surrounded by solar panels as the arrays will only be constructed within the Project Area on land owned by participating landowners. High River Energy Center is in the preliminary stages of developing the proposed site layout and performing studies in order to determine the best locations for siting the solar panel arrays in order to minimize potential adverse impacts (including the potential for visual impacts) to the maximum extent practicable, given myriad environmental/engineering constraints. Drawings distributed to date have only indicated the Project’s potential buildable area which depicts locations within the Project Area that may be developed based upon constraints such as setbacks and sensitive environmental areas.
A: The presiding examiner of the Article 10 proceeding is required to reserve at least 50% of the pre-application intervenor fund for potential award to the municipality (i.e., county, city, town, or village). The remaining 50% is available for potential award to local parties, generally including any person residing in a community who may be affected by the proposed solar facility who is a party to the Article 10 proceeding. The Board regulations at 1000.10, which can be found at this link [Article 10 Regulations], provide greater detail.
A: While the impacts of a utility-scale solar energy center on neighboring property values have not been studied in-depth, numerous studies found the impact of wind energy generation on neighboring property values to be negligible. Solar has less of a visual impact than a wind farm does.
Importantly, a solar project brings numerous economic benefits to a community, including the potential for millions of dollars in additional revenue to the local community which can be used to enhance schools, roads and essential services – improving both the quality of life and overall value of the community. The Project will deliver these economic benefits without making additional demands or impact on community services.