Community solar enterprise is coming online in Hinesburg

A community solar project in Hinesburg will soon be up and running, offering financial credits and buy-ins for Vermont Electric Coop customers.

The project was originally queued up with the Acorn Renewable Energy Co-op set to sell the membership to Hinesburg residents, who could then use the project’s net-metered credits toward their Vermont Electric Co-Op bills.

But in April, the company said it was unable to continue with the array after it told the town it couldn’t garner enough membership among residents to continue to pursue the project.

Aegis Renewable Energy, the solar array builder, shifted to selling a stake in the project to Peter Ehrlich, a private investor and head of Zero Percent Club, a volunteer organization “dedicated to providing high quality resources and community support to people looking to decarbonize their lives.”

Ehrlich has since started Skylight Solar to operate the array and sell financial credits for customers in Vermont Electric Coop’s territory in a similar manner, effectively offering ownership stakes in the energy to “anybody within Vermont Electric Co Op territory, not necessarily restricted to one group of customers or another,” Aaron Lavallee, who performs design and permitting work with Aegis, said.

“We love the idea of that power going locally to Hinesburg customers,” Ehlrich said. “This array is in their town, if the benefits of that are going to local townspeople, that’s all the better.”

While much of Hinesburg is covered by Green Mountain Power, there are still pockets of Vermont Electric Coop territory in the northern and eastern parts of town.

Aegis and Acorn were originally brought on in 2019 to fulfill renewable energy goals laid out in Hinesburg’s master plan.

The project hit a snag when it was discovered the landfill that the proposed solar panels would sit atop was never properly capped. Several private residences near the property — including the town garage — have since had dangerous chemicals detected in their drinking water, and efforts to remediate are still underway.

But plans to buildout the 150kW solar array proceeded, nonetheless. Lavalle said that the project has had “an extra level of engineering” built in to ensure the array will not affect the landfill’s cap.

Acorn had spent time marketing to residents to buy into its membership, who could then use the project’s net-metered credits toward their Vermont Electric Co-Op bills. After the company fell short of the goal, Aegis continued the project with Ehrlich as the primary investor.

Lavalle called the new deal with Ehrlich a positive outcome for the solar array project.

“This project has faced a number of challenges, but in the end it got built, and it’s going to provide a benefit to the citizens of Hinesburg as well as the greater region,” he said.

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Updated Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023, to reflect the correct spelling of Aaron Lavallee's name and his duties with the company.