By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

The sun has set on one solar array deal in Van Buren, but it is rising for another.

At the Sept. 19 Van Buren Town Board meeting, Supervisor Claude Sykes announced that AES Distributed Energy is backing out of its proposed solar array on Pottery Road.

Sykes said AES had applied for a New York State Public Service Commission grant, but could not meet the project completion date of Nov. 30. AES requested a one-month extension but was denied.

“We hate to hear it, but that’s what happened,” Sykes told the Messenger.

While AES has bowed out, Forefront Power is beginning work on its own solar array on Kingdom Road. Sykes said surveying work was set to begin last week and Forefront indicated that they would start driving posts for their project, which is located across from the former landfill.

“They were supposed to start survey work yesterday,” Sykes told the Messenger Sept. 21. “The more work they get done, the less chance they have of [backing out].”