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During the Tuesday, August 12 meeting of the Sudbury Select Board, the board voted to authorize Town Manager Andy Sheehan to sign power purchase agreements for solar installations at the Sudbury Police Station and Haskell Field.
The Energy and Sustainability Committee had already voted to support the projects at a prior meeting. The goal was to safe harbor the projects before the federal incentives for solar projects were phased out under new federal legislation called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
During the Select Board meeting, Chair Lisa Kouchakdjian asked about the status of planning for a solar canopy at the Ephraim Curtis Middle School. The Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee had talked about the project as far back as 2021, but it never moved forward. Combined Facility Director Sandra Duran expressed enthusiasm for the project in response to Kouchakdjian, but questioned if there was enough time left to accelerate that project into safe harbor status.
On Friday, the SPS School Committee held a special session to discuss authorizing the Superintendent to sign a power purchase agreement for the middle school parking lot canopy. The vote was unanimous in favor.
The three solar projects moving forward are in addition to existing projects at the Fairbank Community Center and two fire stations. A Department of Public Works solar roof installation is already complete.
While the Select Board and SPS School Committee have authorized the Town Manager and Superintendent to sign the agreements, further work will be required to finalize the terms of the lease contracts and conduct diligence on some of the engineering and designs before any of the projects officially get the green light for construction.
