A new provincial initiative for clean, reliable power at an affordable rate could be coming to Porters Lake.

It is part of a new Community Solar Program, introduced by the province in March, to help those who want solar panels but do not have the ideal space for them.

Businesses and community groups would set up solar gardens, which residents can subscribe to, to bring down the price of their power bill.

Local company, Advanced Electric Energy wants to help people in their community and build a solar farm on their 15-acre lot.

Electrician, Adam Gervais says he thinks his company, which specializes in ground mounted solar rays, is an ideal candidate for the farm.

He tells our newsroom that it would be about four acres, between Hollywood Drive and West Porters Lake Rd and would produce 1 megawatt to power 120 homes.

“You get 2 cents a kilowatt hour off of your power bill, if you subscribe…and it’s free to subscribe…so right now the rate is 18 cents, so it’s roughly 11 per cent.”

Hiring local

If Advanced Electric Energy gets the contract, they will be hiring local bodies to help with the project.

Gervais says they will need about 10 people.

“We are going to be looking at hiring local contractors to build the roads, clear the land…try to reuse any resources that we can on the land and then hire some able bodies to move solar panels around because there’s quite a few.”

Community Reaction

There have been two community meetings on the matter and Gervais says so far, reaction from residents has been positive.

Any concerns, he says, stem mostly from hesitation over noise or proximity to the farm and what the panels are made of, with solar being a fairly new industry in the province.

This solar farm will be in addition to a few others in the province in Berwick, Antigonish and Mahone Bay.

Gervais says he will be submitting his application by the end of the month.

The farm is expected to be built by 2026.