By DIANE VALDEN
COPAKE—In his August 10 update on the status of Hecate Energy’s controversial industrial-sized Shepherd’s Run Solar Project, Copake Supervisor Richard Wolf wondered why “the developer still has not filed” a revised permit application for a scaled-down project?
The answer may be that rather than risk another rejection from the State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) Hecate is trying to get all its ducks in a row.
A Chicago-based developer of solar and wind facilities and energy storage projects, Hecate Energy announced in a public notice that ran in the March 14 Columbia Paper, that it would file a revised application with the ORES “on or about June 3.”
Now it is more than two months later and still no application.
Back on February 6, ORES Executive Director Houtan Moaveni granted the Town of Copake’s legal motion to dismiss and denied Hecate Energy’s application for the controversial Shepherd’s Run Solar Project in Craryville.
Hecate’s application to construct a 60-megawatt (MW) solar facility was denied without prejudice to the applicant’s submission of a new application for a modified facility in accordance with regulations.
The application was denied because about 60 acres of farmland, formerly owned by Main Farm LLC, a parcel that was supposed to be an integral part of the Shepherd’s Run project, was sold to Craryville Farms LLC. The new property owner wants nothing to do with Hecate or its solar facility. The attorney for Copake argued, and Mr. Moaveni agreed, that the Shepherd’s Run solar project as proposed in Hecate’s initial application is no longer feasible. The loss of the property requires Hecate to redesign the project.
In Hecate’s new proposal, the facility’s generating capacity would be reduced from 60 MW to approximately 42 MW, the project footprint would be reduced from 267 acres to approximately 215 acres, new access roads would be reduced from 2.5 to approximately 2 miles, and project impacts to forest and agricultural lands, and visual impact are anticipated to decrease.
Even if scaled down, the still industrial-sized project is not permitted under Copake Zoning Law. But Hecate has bypassed local law and will seek site approval from ORES under the state’s streamlined siting process for renewable energy projects, known as 94-c.
In his August 10 report, Supervisor Wolf referred to a July 30 letter from Shepherd’s Run Project Developer Matt Levine, which informed the supervisor of Hecate’s “continued interest in developing the Shepherd’s Run solar project” and noted that Hecate is participating in a current Request for Proposals from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) seeking Renewable Energy Certificates.
Mr. Wolf noted that for its failed 60 MW proposal, Hecate had a contract with NYSERDA worth about $42 million. “But what Levine’s letter apparently means is that Hecate failed to receive a contract for its 42 MW proposal in the last round of solicitations earlier this year, so it is trying again.” Mr. Wolf said he speculates that “without NYSERDA’s multimillion dollar incentive, Hecate may be reconsidering whether the project would make financial sense.”
Though no one from Hecate has spoken to town officials in person since a March meeting, Mr. Wolf said Mr. Levine came to Copake a few weeks ago to meet with some owners of homes adjacent to the would-be project.
“I am told that he discussed the possibility of financial compensation, and a plan by which Hecate might protect them against declining property values. Subsequently, I heard that one of the homeowners was offered financial compensation, which it is said was rejected by the homeowner.
“Whatever is going on, we still expect Hecate to file very soon. And unless it makes significant changes to its previous plan, including, among many recommendations proposed by the Working Group, a commitment to provide effective screening with mature trees and native vegetation, the Town Board’s longstanding position will not change … The proposed site is all wrong for our small rural town…”
Contacted for comment on the perceived delay in submitting an application, Mr. Levine responded by email to The Columbia Paper: “As we have noted in our previous filings, Hecate is committed to helping the State of New York attain its ambitious clean energy goals and believe the Shepherd’s Run Solar Project is an important part of that effort. We are also committed to working with and hearing from local voices to ensure the project proceeds in a way that supports the economy and preserves the rural character of this special community. We heard valuable feedback in our open meetings in April and subsequent conversations, and are working to incorporate much if it into the project. We intend to submit the new permit application in the coming weeks and look forward to continuing to engage in a long-term dialogue with the Copake community.”
Bill Leonard, a 30-year resident of County Route 7, whose home is one in a string of homes situated directly across the road from where the largest solar array would be installed, told The Columbia Paper by phone that Mr. Levine did pay him a visit and offered to pay each homeowner $10,000.
“$10,000? What’s $10,000 going to do?” questioned Mr. Leonard, who said instead of the money he would rather not see the project at all.
He said he asked Mr. Levine that since so much time has passed and Hecate has to file a new application, don’t they have to perform a new environmental study?
Mr. Leonard said he heard the “same old rhetoric;” that a new study was not necessary. The homeowner also said for Hecate to effectively screen the solar panels they would have to plant trees 100 feet tall, due to the elevation, which is not likely to happen.
Dan Haas with Friends of Columbia Solar said by email this week: “We await Hecate’s submission of a new application and are confident that ORES will find it complete and approve it. We’re also pleased that Hecate continues to address the priorities of the Working Group by meeting with adjacent landowners and working to establish a new section of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail on the site of Shepherd’s Run. Perhaps most important to the community, Hecate has also committed to an Agrivoltaics Integration Plan that provides for sheep grazing on 75 acres of the property. They’ve also publicly promised to, among other points, plant native trees and shrubs to minimize sightlines for neighbors, address concerns about wetlands, and incorporate wildlife-friendly fencing. We at Friends of Columbia Solar hope that these commitments will lead to a negotiated Community Benefits Plan that will nail the details down once and for all.”
Stephen Futrell with Sensible Solar for Rural New York (SSRNY) said by email this week that it “continues to stand with the Town of Copake’s Town Board in opposition to Hecate Energy and its proposed 42-megawatt solar project in Craryville. We are deeply concerned about the potential impacts on our community, including the loss of prime farmland, threats to Copake’s outdoor recreation economy, clear-cutting of forests, and potential harm to the wetland in the proposed 700-acre Facility Site.
“This project, as proposed, is not right for our rural town. SSRNY urges Hecate to reconsider its approach and for ORES to demand current thorough studies that reflect the real environmental impacts both during and after construction of such a project. The future of Copake’s economy and the well-being of our community depend on it.”
Supervisor Wolf echoed that sentiment in concluding his report, noting, “Outdoor recreation tourism is an increasingly major component of Copake’s economy. Visitors are attracted to Copake by the natural beauty in and around our small rural town. Shepherd’s Run would mar that beauty and remove more than 200 acres from agricultural production. It would cause economic hardship to businesses and to nearby homeowners, whose property values would plummet.
Make no mistake: Shepherd’s Run poses a real and serious threat to the economic future of Copake.”
To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com