PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Presque Isle Planning Board recently approved and signed the site plans for MMG Insurance’s solar power project.
A total of 1,080 solar panels will be installed on the south side of land adjacent to the MMG building at 44 Maysville St. near the Aroostook Centre Mall. MMG is in the process of acquiring the land from Maine DOT.
Edward Wright, a consultant for 207 Solar which is overseeing construction of the project, presented the revised site plans to the Planning Board on Thursday, Oct. 6, and went over the site plan review.
The cost of the solar project is around $800,000 for equipment and labor on the solar panels, according to Galen Weibley, Economic and Community Development Director of Presque Isle.
Energy from the solar panels is expected to produce 500,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year, according to Judy Long, Manager of Communications for Versant Power.
The new solar project will be used by MMG Insurance to power its building and will be under the state’s Net Energy Tariff Rate program under the Maine Public Utilities Commission, which means there is no net energy community billing and no commercial selling of solar energy, according to Jake Chouinard, project manager for 207 Solar. The MMG Solar project is not part of the community solar program.
Snow removal will be limited to the access drive. The panels require no snow removal because the sun melts the snow quickly. There’s no predicted issue with drainage along the access road to the solar site.
The site plans were signed at City Hall by Planning Board members. A building permit hasn’t been submitted yet for the project.
