The New York State Department of Public Service today announced that the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (ORES) has issued a final siting permit to Boralex LLC for the Fort Edward Solar Project, a 100-megawatt (MW) solar facility in the Town of Fort Edward, Washington County. The project will create good-paying jobs, invest in crucial infrastructure, and increase tax revenues for local schools and other community priorities through tax and host community agreements.
Department of Public Service CEO Rory M. Christian said, “This permit approval reflects our ongoing commitment to building clean energy and improving grid reliability across New York. Fort Edward Solar will deliver 100-MW of emissions-free power to tens of thousands of homes while creating jobs and generating tax revenues for the local community. Today’s approval includes permit conditions that will result in greater habitat and environmental protections than would exist absent the project.”
Fort Edward Solar is expected to create approximately 120 full-time equivalent construction jobs and up to three permanent positions during operation, based out of Boralex's South Glens Falls office. The project will deliver more than $14 million in community benefits throughout its operational life to the Town of Fort Edward, local school districts, and Washington County in the form of Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) payments and a Host Community Benefit Agreement. Boralex will also allocate resources for STEM education and workforce development programs in the surrounding communities through the Boralex Beyond Renewables Fund. The project is also expected to provide $500,000 in utility bill credits for residents of the Town of Fort Edward over the course of the first 10 years of operation.
During the permit review process, landowners of parcels associated with the project noted the project will provide financial stability to retain their land for generations, provide income that will allow them to continue farm operations, support energy independence and growing demand for electricity through locally based clean energy, and emphasized that the local revenue generated by the project will contribute to the vitality of their community. Further, landowners noted the project will keep the land intact versus other types of development that would result in permanent impacts to land, roads, traffic, schools, and other municipal services.
The Washington County facility will contribute 100-MW of clean, renewable energy to New York’s electric grid, enough to power approximately 25,600 average-sized homes. The project is expected to be operational in 2030.
Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission Interim Executive Director Jason Zehr said, “ORES was attentive to every detail of this application, ensuring a thorough review of the unique environmental resources within Fort Edward. This project advances New York’s clean energy goals and serves as a great example of how stakeholders and developers can work together to thoughtfully design a project that benefits community and landowner resilience, and the environment on both the local and state level.”
Including the Fort Edward Solar permit, ORES has now approved 36 large-scale solar and wind projects totaling more than 5.1 GW of clean energy. These projects will protect and improve public health, safety, and the environment by substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions and co-pollutants attributed to power generation in New York State.
The Fort Edward Solar Project will consist of arrays of solar photovoltaic panels, access roads, inverters, electric collection lines, fencing, landscaping, and a collection substation and transformer to step up voltage to 115 kV for delivery to the existing grid via the New York 115 kV Line 15 Mohican-Battenkill.
The permit was issued following a thorough, timely, and transparent review process that included a public comment period and hearings. Prior to issuing the permit, ORES held an appellate hearing by the Executive Director to ensure concerns raised by stakeholders were fully understood and considered, and to ensure the parties raising them had an additional meaningful opportunity to be heard. The permit includes enforceable conditions governing the construction, operation, and decommissioning of the facility, ensuring full site restoration at the end of the project’s operational life.
During the ORES review process, the Fort Edward Solar project design was revised several times in response to ORES staff and stakeholder feedback and to substantially reduce the project footprint as well as impacts to agriculture, wetlands, and wildlife. The project’s footprint was reduced by 146 acres; occupied wildlife habitat impacts were reduced by 136 acres; wetland impacts were reduced by 144 acres; and active agricultural impacts were reduced by 269 acres. The final project footprint is approximately 530 acres.
The project will fully offset residual unavoidable impacts by protecting, creating, and restoring wetlands, and by enhancing threatened and endangered species habitat both on and off the site, providing a net conservation benefit. A net conservation benefit means that additional preservation and protection measures are secured as a result of renewable energy projects permitted by ORES, such as tangible long-term preservation and management of habitat for threatened and endangered species. The project developer must submit a final Net Conservation Benefit Plan (NCBP) to ORES for review and approval before construction can begin.
Consistent with the developer’s obligation to file a NCBP, last week, Grassland Bird Trust, Inc. (GBT), an advocacy group and stakeholder in the project that has actively engaged with the project developer throughout the siting permit process, entered into an agreement with Boralex which will reportedly fund land acquisition for long-term grassland bird habitat conservation in Washington County.
Following this agreement, GBT also withdrew its pending appeal related to the project’s permitting process. In a press release announcing the agreement, GBT stated that its concerns regarding grassland bird mitigation, which were voiced during the series of public participation opportunities over the course of the process overseen by ORES, have been resolved through the agreement.
Town of Fort Edward Supervisor Tim Fisher said, “After years of thoughtful engagement and collaboration, the Town of Fort Edward is pleased to see the Fort Edward Solar Project receive its final siting permit. Throughout the process, Boralex worked closely with the Town, residents, and local stakeholders, demonstrating commitment to listening and responding to community feedback. The result is a project that balances protection of our community’s character with support for local priorities, economic opportunity, and New York’s clean energy goals.”
Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 190 Business Manager Anthony Fresina said, “Our union is proud to support the Fort Edward Solar project, which will bring good paying, family-sustaining construction jobs with benefits to workers and their families in our area. Our members are trained and ready to deliver this work safely and efficiently, and we are glad to see this investment in our community. We look forward to doing our part to build New York’s clean energy future.”
Alliance for Clean Energy New York Executive Director Marguerite Wells said, “Renewable energy projects work best when they become a reflection of the community they are hosted in. It’s clear that through the ORES permitting process, Fort Edward Solar had the chance to become that. We applaud the ORES staff, Boralex, and all who have been involved in getting this project to this milestone. As projects like Fort Edward Solar join New York’s power grid, New Yorkers will further benefit from the stable prices and community investments renewable projects bring.”
New York League of Conservation Voters President Julie Tighe said, “New York’s clean energy transition depends on taking real action to deliver projects on the ground, and ORES approval for the Fort Edward Solar project does exactly that. This project will add 100 megawatts of new renewable capacity, create more than 100 good-paying jobs, and advance New York’s transition to a clean energy economy. We commend ORES for continuing to streamline responsible siting and advancing much-needed clean energy projects across the state.”
Today's decisions may be obtained by going to the Department's Documents section of the website at www.dps.ny.gov and entering the Matter Number 23-03023 in the input box labeled "Search for Case/Matter Number." Many libraries offer free Internet access. Department documents may also be obtained from the Department's Files Office, 14th floor, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223 (518-474-2500). If you have difficulty understanding English, please call us at 1-800-342-3377 for free language assistance services regarding this press release.
