By Ashley M. Casey
Staff Writer
The town of Cicero could be home to Upstate New York’s first 20-acre solar farm. The planning board held a public hearing Dec. 12 on the site plan application for Knossos Solar LLC, which plans to partner with California-based Cypress Creek Renewables to provide solar energy credits at a fixed annual price for consumers.
Planning Board Chair Bob Smith said residents’ feedback at the public hearing was largely positive. Smith said the solar farm, which would be located at 7209 Route 298, near the Manlius town line, would have a low impact on surrounding areas and no traffic impact.
“Hard to find anything wrong with it, [and] I’m not a treehugger,” he said.
Knossos Solar’s 20-acre farm would have between 8,000 and 9,000 panels and would be able to produce two megawatts, which Smith said is the maximum allowable output for solar farms in New York state. Smith said the solar arrays have a useful life of 30 years, but Cypress Creek Renewables’ website said solar farms may be able to generate energy for 40 years or more.
Knossos Solar and Cypress Creek Renewables would be responsible for removing the arrays once their useful life is up.
“This is the first time I’ve had a project where right up front they agreed to take it down when they’re done,” Smith said. “I want to make sure there’s some guarantees that in 30 years when I’m long gone and they decommission this thing, that there are protections there.”
“The town of Cicero is excited to receive this application for the first Upstate New York solar farm estimated to produce two megawatts of sustainable, renewable and clean electric energy, enough to power approximately 500 Central New York Homes,” Cicero Town Supervisor Mark Venesky said in a release.
Smith said the solar farm, which would be the first of its size in Upstate New York, opens up many opportunities for Cicero.
“We’re going to get some construction jobs, obviously,” Smith said. “They don’t do a lot of modification to the land because we’re pretty flat in Cicero.”
The availability of solar energy could attract new businesses, developers, jobs and residents to Cicero, especially as the number of apartments grows in the town.
“You’re purchasing the electricity directly from Cypress Creek from the credits you earn,” Smith said. “In this case, the individuals … don’t own [the panels]; the company does, so even people who rent can have renewable electricity.”
Smith projected energy cost savings of 8 to 10 percent and said the town of Cicero is also considering placing a solar array on the former town dump.
“It means we’re actually producing some of the power we’re using,” he said.
Smith said Knossos Solar still has a lot to do on its site plan, but should the planning board approve the project, construction will begin in the spring of 2017 and the panels will start generating electricity in November 2017.
The planning board likely will make a determination on the Knossos Solar application at its Jan. 9, 2017, meeting. To learn more about the project, visit ccrenew.com/LS/knossos.
