A clean energy company was given the green light Tuesday to proceed with plans for a solar power system it wants to build on a North Huntingdon farm, a first step in a long approval process that could take three years before producing electricity, a company official said.
The five-member North Huntingdon Zoning Board unanimously decided that a solar power system in a residential area in the township is an essential service under the township’s zoning ordinance. That overturns zoning officer Thomas McGuire’s November decision denying Bear Peak Power North Huntingdon LLC’s application for approval to install the solar panels in a 30-acre area along Schade Hill Road.
Attorney Michael Korns, representing Bear Peak Power, argued that the zoning ordinance deems a public utility providing an electrical service as an essential service in a residential area. While Bear Peak Power is a privately owned company, it is a public utility in the sense that its electrical service would be connected to a FirstEnergy Corp. electrical line and distributed through power lines in North Huntingdon.
Zoning board members questioned whether Bear Peak Power would be considered a public utility.
The connection with FirstEnergy’s distributions lines has to be approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Korns said.
Korns also pointed out McGuire had deemed Bear Peak Power’s proposed lithium ion battery storage system in another section of the township as an essential service when he approved that proposed project in 2023. The energy storage system, which will be connected to FirstEnergy’s distribution system, has yet to be built.
Bear Peak Power North Huntingdon, part of Bear Peak Power of Denver, wants to build a six-megawatt distribution-scale solar power system on part of the Schade’s 400-acre farm.
Distributed solar is referred to as “behind the meter” because it serves the onsite electric load, which has an electric meter that measures the inflow and outflow of electricity to the grid, said Sharon Pillar, founder and executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Pennsylvania Solar Center. These systems are connected to the smaller distribution grid, Pillar stated in an email prior to the hearing.
Chris Vorlicek, Bear Peak Power director of development, said that with the zoning approval, the company will begin a land development plan that it likely will submit in six-to-eight months to the township. It will need another six months to get building permits and permits for controlling water pollution.
It could take about a year to start construction and obtain the supplies and solar panels, along with eight-to-10 months for commissioning.
He expects that it will not be until 2028 before it will be commissioned to generate power.