Sep. 4--Lower Paxton Twp. supervisors will seek a state grant to build a $14 million solar farm atop its closed landfill to generate electricity.

The board voted unanimously on Tuesday night, with Supervisor William L. Hornung absent, to hire Energy Systems & Installations Inc. of Hershey for $12,000 to apply for the funding for the project.

In its preliminary analysis of the project, ESI officials said that creating a system capable of providing 3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year would cost about $14 million. The solar system would be built on a 6-acre site at the old landfill on Conway Road.

"The relatively large land area required to produce a significant amount of electrical power is typically an economic disincentive," Corey C. Wolff, ESI CEO, said in the proposal to the township. "The landfill provides a large area of south-facing open land that would be available at no cost to the township."

Wolfe said that solar power works by harnessing the sun and turning that into energy. "As the rate caps come off on electricity prices, the expense to power the Swatara Water Treatment Facility could rise as much as 30 percent over the next few years," he said of the plant just a few miles away that serves portions of Lower Paxton.

He said that the Lower Paxton Twp. solar project could sell energy to PPL, then the bill to the Swatara Twp. plant would be credited for the power sold.

Before the vote, Supervisor David Blain said that he "would like to see a budget for the $12,000, including number of hours and hourly rates." That became part of the motion.

Wolff said that applying for grants, loans and bonds is only the second step in the process of creating the solar farm.

Other steps include a feasibility study with the local utility, firm pricing and the engineering design of the system, contract process, installation, commissioning, feedback and maintenance.

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