State makes major solar announcement in New Scotland
— From Albany County Interactive Mapping
During the summer of 2020, Borrego Solar Systems came to the town of New Scotland seeking to install 20 acres of solar panels on a 27-acre site located between 215 Altamont Road and National Grid’s transmission lines. This week, the site was the backdrop for a major announcement from the state.
NEW SCOTLAND — A collection of higher-ups from the state’s various energy agencies were on hand in New Scotland Thursday to announce New York had hit a major renewable energy milestone a year ahead of schedule.
The announcement from the governor’s office and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority stated that six gigawatts of distributed solar had been installed across the state, “marking the early achievement of the State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act statutory goal a year ahead of schedule.”
The energy generated by the six gigawatts is enough to power more than one million homes, according to the announcement.
In 2021, with the milestone’s success all but assured, Governor Kathy Hochul upped the six-gigawatt goal to 10; there are currently 3.4 gigawatts in development, according to the announcement.
The announcement was made at a solar site whose approval process played out over the course of a year-and-a-half.
During the summer of 2020, Borrego Solar Systems came to New Scotland, seeking to install 20 acres of solar panels on the 27-acre site located in between 215 Altamont Road and National Grid’s high-voltage transmission lines.
The length of the approval process was due in part to the proposed project’s location: the foot of the Helderberg Escarpment, which led to a thorough analysis from the town’s zoning board, taking into account the view from John Boyd State Thacher Park.
Then-board member Dean Sommer said at the time the zoning board could be criticized for “forever” changing the view.
The glare study from Borrego suggested “that a limited amount of glare may be seen” from the Thacher Park overlook parking lot for “a few weeks in April and again in August at 7:00 am for up to 20 minutes.” The zoning board was also told by Borrego’s project engineer at the time there were no “high-potential glare” areas when trees and topography were taken into account.
The zoning board approved the necessary variance requests from Borrego in January 2021, allowing the 5.7 megawatt facility to be built.
