Jessica Dunbar has cared about the environment for as long as she can remember. She went to school for environmental science. She recycles. She even worked for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services for a while.But she didn’t dwell on.
Tax abatement approved for Bethlehem solar array
December 20, 2020BETHLEHEM The Bethlehem Select Board approved a $720,000 tax abatement request for a solar array at the Profile School at last week s public meeting. The approval comes one year after the Ammonoosuc Regional Energy Team (ARET) first presented the idea of an array to the Profile School Board.
The proposed PPA (Purchase Power Agreement), approved 91-6 by voters at the school s annual meeting in June, allows Profile to lease land to Barrington Power. In turn, the energy company sells electricity back to the school at a discounted rate.
Through such a funding model, the solar equipment is owned and maintained by the energy company, and the proposed agreement has a twenty-five-year life span with the option to purchase at year five. After five years, the school has the option to buy the array from Barrington Energy at a fraction of the installation cost. PPAs are quite common in the solar industry, and there are numer