LIMESTONE, Maine — As electricity rates started rising in Maine, one town and school in Aroostook County banded together to help both entities save thousands of dollars.
Partnerships between municipalities are not uncommon in Aroostook, where people often share resources to mutually benefit their communities. More unique are formal partnerships between town and school officials.
But that’s exactly what Limestone and the Maine School of Science and Mathematics did after realizing that they could harness the benefits of solar power for themselves rather than rely on the many out-of-state companies constructing solar arrays.
In 2018, the Limestone Water & Sewer District installed 1,728 solar panels on a 3.5-acre parcel of land they own, which was the site of a former industrial park. After saving more than $50,000 since then in their electricity costs, the district reached out to the town office and local schools.
In a time of increased costs and tight budgets, the district hoped that officials from both would see solar as a wise financial investment.
In less than a year, the town of Limestone and MSSM became next in line to own two local solar array installations and will have virtually free electric bills in the coming years.
Based on their typical electricity usage, the town and school expect the solar arrays to save them $37,972 and $27,633 a year, respectively. The town’s annual electric bill is $38,000, while MSSM’s is $28,000.
“We’ll see 95 percent electric savings,” said Chuck Kelley, chairperson for Limestone’s solar committee.
In spring 2022, the committee, which consists of town and school officials, finalized a $425,000 power purchase agreement with The Power Company, based in Washington, Maine, for two solar arrays located on former Loring Air Force Base land. Local voters approved spending no more than $475,000 on the purchase.
Loring Development Authority, who owns and operates an industrial and commercial park on that land, signed a power purchase agreement with The Power Company in 2013, but opted to not purchase the arrays for themselves.
That allowed Limestone and MSSM to sign a lease agreement with LDA for the land and a purchase agreement with The Power Company.
Both arrays are located near the LDA’s main office, with one being a fixed array that produces 52,550 kilowatt hours per year. The other is a tracker array system with 30 panels that tilt based on the sun’s location and produce 309,807 kilowatt hours per year.
Limestone Community School, which shares a building with MSSM but pays its own electrical expenses, was already pursuing its own solar array installation when the town’s solar committee formed and opted not to be part of that purchase agreement.
Though the town’s solar committee must pay off a seven-year loan to cover the purchase of the arrays, the power purchase agreement will allow them to fully own the arrays after five years.
The committee is seeking grants to reduce the payment time and has already received a $50,000 Community Resiliency Partnership award from the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.
They were one of 24 community partnerships in Maine to receive such funding last spring for climate-related infrastructure projects and the only one from Aroostook County.
MSSM Executive Director Sam Critchlow said that the committee has applied for another $50,000 grant to repair and upgrade several tracker panels.
He praised the partnership for essentially giving Limestone and MSSM the ability to purchase their own electricity savings.
“In this case, a small town and school took stock of their resources and said, ‘We could do this ourselves,’” Critchlow said. “If Limestone can do it, I think a lot of other communities in Maine could do it.”
While visiting MSSM and the solar array sites Thursday, Hannah Pingree, director of the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, also took notice of the town’s collaborative approach to its solar project.
“The way that you’ve rallied behind this project and got it done is a model for the rest of the state,” Pingree said.
