Solar Company Gets State Approval To Build Berkeley Solar Field

BERKELEY, NJ — The solar company authorized to lease Berkeley’s closed landfill recently received approval from state officials to build a 10 megawatt solar field.

The state Board of Public Utilities approved 105 applications for towns to participate in round two of the pilot program for community solar energy projects. Community solar projects are selected by the Board for participation in the pilot program via a competitive solicitation process.

Hathaway Solar’s lease in Berkeley is expected to generate at least $400,000 and up to $500,000 a year in revenue for the township, according to Mayor Carmen Amato.

Once the project is completed, residents will have an opportunity to purchase renewable energy from the system at a discounted rate.

“This is great news for the township, as well as our taxpayers and residents. The lease requires Hathaway Solar to cap our old landfill at no cost to the taxpayers. Depending on a couple of variables, the lease payments will be about a half a million dollars a year,” Amato told Patch.

“Additionally, Berkeley Township residents will have the ability to purchase renewable energy from Hathaway Solar to power their homes at a discounted rate. This is most definitely a win-win for everyone," he said.

When Hathaway Solar was awarded the contract over the summer, Amato explained that the program would be set up as an opt-in program rather than an opt-out program.

"It's an opt-in program, not an opt-out. I know there's different types of programs that are available but we wanted ours to be an opt-in this way if the residents want to buy energy from it, they can opt in to it," Amato said.

The two project names are Eagles Solar I and Eagles Solar II. Each are five megawatt projects.

The landfill is located behind the township's Public Works building on Pinewald-Keswick Road.

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