City officials are moving forward with a cost-saving plan to build a solar power array on the former municipal landfill off Highland Avenue.

ReVision Energy of Portland has sweetened the terms of its proposal to build the solar facility, reducing the price that the city would pay for electricity generated by the array from 12 cents to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour under a power purchase agreement.

Each facility would generate about 1.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. That’s nearly 12 percent of the 10.1 million kilowatt-hours used annually by South Portland’s municipal and school facilities, Rosenbach said. And it’s about 3.5 percent of the 35.6 million kilowatt-hours used by Portland’s municipal and school facilities – enough to power Portland City Hall and Merrill Auditorium for a year.

The facilities are expected to be in cash-positive positions by the seventh year of the agreement, when each city would anticipate buying its array for $1.6 million, financed through a 20-year bond at 3 percent interest.

Full article is available here: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/07/25/south-portland-moves-ahead-with-solar-proposal-on-former-landfill/