Officials at MASSENA – North Side Energy Center, LLC plan to submit an application for an Environmental and Public Needs Certificate to the State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment on or about February 10 to help build and operate a 180 -Megawatt unit to be approved for solar panels in the towns of Brasher, Norfolk and Massena.
A copy of the application will be served on Mark A. Peets, Brasher City Warden, Charles Pernice, Norfolk City Warden, and Steven D. O'Shaughnessy, Massena City Warden.
NextEra Energy Resources, through its subsidiary North Star Energy Center, proposes to develop, build, own and operate the facility with a capacity of 180 megawatts. The project area is 2,200 acres, but the actual area of the solar system is 961 acres. It would take around 12 to 14 months to build, starting in late 2022 and going through to 2023.
North Side Energy Center officials reviewed the various aspects of the project in their notification of filing the application.
They said the 180 megawatt solar power center will be on land leased or bought by private owners. Project components include commercial-scale solar systems, access roads, buried (and possibly overhead) electrical trunking, a substation for project collection, and electrical interconnection systems.
“The project will certainly produce enough clean, renewable electricity to power more than 40,000 households. As a renewable resource, the project will avoid harmful emissions and other adverse effects from traditional fossil fuel generation plants such as water consumption, ”they write.
They said the project will also benefit the local community's economic growth by creating jobs both during construction and operations and by increasing tax revenues. Officials have announced that more than 200 full-time jobs will be created during construction, from machine operators to manual workers to truck drivers.
After submitting the request, the session authority will decide whether it complies with the requirements of Article 10. The Siting Board must decide on the application within 12 months of determining that the application meets the requirements of Article 10.
Article 10 provides that the Board of Electric Generation Siting and the Environment use a unified process to conduct the site review of new and renewed or modified major power generation facilities in New York State, rather than requiring a developer or owner of such a facility to file numerous state applications and local permits.
Once the project is determined to be compliant, the administrative judges in charge of the process will issue a notice that approximately US $ 180,000 of Intervention Funds will be available for Eligible Parties participating in the Application Phase.
“Intervener” means any party other than the applicant or the reviewing authority staff who is joining a case or acting as a third party to protect an interest. Article 10 applicants must provide funds in several phases to cover certain costs incurred by municipal and local parties in participating in an Article 10 procedure.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualified purchases.