Construction is underway at Paragould Light, Water and Cableâs new solar panel located at the corner of Highways 69 and 358.
Work crews from Columbia, Mo.-based contractor EnergyLink have been at the site, pouring concrete for transformers and a ground-mounted single axis tracker for the 4,680 panels to be installed in the 10-acre array.
âThe panels will track the sun as it travels from east to west,â explained EnergyLink construction manager Luke Dangelser. âThatâs the single axis.â
When finished, the 10-acre array is expected to provide 1.5 megawatts (MW) of power to the city, enough to power 280 homes. There are no current plans to use the whole 28 acres for solar panels. But were they all to be used, up to 4.2 MW could be available.
Work has begun in earnest on the 10-acre solar panel farm Paragould Light, Water and Cable will build at the intersection of Jones Road and South Second Avenue. The utility hosted a ground-breaking ceremony on Wednesday.
The facility, when finished by July 31, will produce 1.5 megawatts (MW) of power, enough supply electricity for 280 homes through its 4,680 panels. No plans yet exist to expand the solar panel farm beyond its current 10 acres to the full 28 acres available.
PLWC received a $2 million grant from the Economic Development Corporation of Paragould, to help cover the cost of the plantâs construction, as well as the 28-acre plot on which the farm is to be built; anything in excess of the grant amount is to come from utility assets.
Unprecedented electrical power demand the week of Feb. 15 has raised questions about the price spikes in natural gas to generate that power.
As described at the Feb. 24 meeting of the Paragould Light, Water and Cableâs board of commissioners, costs of electricity ended up adding $5.7 million to PLWCâs expenses, which depleted more than half the utilityâs stated $10 million in financial reserves.
âThis $5.7 million that [utility chief operations officer] Brett [Bradford] was talking about,â asked commissioner Kelly Wright, âwhoâs going to be the ultimate benefactor of that money?â
âUltimately,â Bradford replied, âthe gas [companies are] what impacted the market.â
Paragould Light, Water and Cable has begun preliminary work on its planned solar panel farm.
According to information made available by the utility, its workers have removed the old Mayflower building on the 10-acre site at the corner of Highways 69 (South Second Avenue) and 358 (Jones Road) and was working to remove the foundation slab.
âWeâll have a kickoff meeting on the 13th with Evergy Energy Partners,â PLWC Chief Executive Officer Darrell Phillips said Thursday, âbut as of yet we donât have any milestones.â
Utility Chief Operations Officer Brett Bradford said the next step is for Evergy Energy Partners to bore holes into the ground at the site to test the soil. âThat way they can determine how deep to set the posts [on which] to set the [solar] panels,â he said.