The owner of a Hermon-based solar company said he is “working on resolutions” after a lucrative contract to install a solar array at the Knox County Regional Airport in Owl’s Head was canceled on Friday.
“I can’t really say what’s going on,” Michael Griggs, owner of Pine Tree Solar, told the Bangor Daily News Wednesday morning. “I am working on resolutions, so I can update you this afternoon.”
The $1.23 million contract was unanimously approved in February 2023 by the Knox County commissioners and was to have been completed by December 2023.
But ongoing delays caused the county to issue several default notices to Pine Tree Solar and to terminate the contract on Friday, as first reported by The Courier-Gazette. The newspaper reported that several Pine Tree Solar laborers began working on the project anyway on Tuesday, and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office was called after they and the company’s owner refused to leave.
Knox County Regional Airport Manager Jeremy Shaw did not immediately return a call from the BDN for an interview.
The newspaper quoted Shaw as saying the project will go forward with one of the other original bidders on the project.
Pine Tree Solar has faced a pattern of complaints from customers and suppliers over the past couple years. Already the subject of two lawsuits and complaints to authorities over delayed installations or refunds, the company in February ran afoul of the state’s revenue department. A sign on its door in late February from Maine Revenue Services said the company was “closed for business with the general public” because its registration certificate was revoked for not complying with the state’s sales and use tax law. Pine Tree Solar defaulted on 18 different auto loans worth $260,000 through Camden National Bank, according to a lawsuit filed by the bank in January.
Lori Valigra is an investigative environment reporter for the BDN’s Maine Focus team. She may be reached at [email protected]. Support for this reporting is provided by the Unity Foundation and donations by BDN readers.
