Holmes Road facility chosen for solar power (1.57 MW PV, Mass.)

[jpak]

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_13390377

PITTSFIELD -- Pittsfield’s Wastewater Treatment Plant on Holmes Road is one of 12 such facilities across the state that has been chosen for the installation of solar power facilities to help reduce its energy bills and greenhouse gas impacts.

The Department of Energy Resources and the state Department of Environmental Protection plan to install four megawatts of solar power at the 12 facilities that are located between the Berkshires and Cape Cod. Pittsfield’s proposed system is one of the project’s largest, and is expected to generate 1.57 megawatts, according to Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

The 12-site project is being funded by $185 million in federal economic stimulus funds that were awarded to the state by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in June to finance 127 water and wastewater infrastructure programs through the State Revolving Fund that is administered by the state DEP.

In Pittsfield, the installation of solar power at the city’s wastewater treatment plant would reduce that facility’s energy consumption by 30 percent, or some $200,000 annually, said Public Works Commissioner Bruce Colling

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