Frequently Asked Questions

• The proposed solar facility is a 40-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) solar energy generation facility located in the town of Coeymans, Albany County, NY. The solar facility will consist of PV solar arrays, access roads, and electrical interconnection to the utility grid. (See “Where will the solar facility be located?” below for map.)

• Hecate Energy is proposing to build the Coeymans Solar Farm. A developer of solar power plants, wind-power plants, and energy storage solutions, Hecate Energy has developed and contracted over 1,000 megawatts of solar projects across the US, including several projects in New York and the Northeast.

• On a site between Route 9W and Route 101, the Coeymans Solar Farm will be installed on a site with on parcels totaling 428 acres. Final layout of the solar arrays is still being developed and actual footprint will use less than the total acreage. (See map below.)
  

• The 40-MW solar farm is expected to produce about 73,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year – enough to supply about 10,000 average New York state households.

• New York State’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) requires utilities to get 70% of their electricity from renewable energy by 2030. The law also requires the state to procure 6,000 MW solar energy by 2025.
• Currently, less only one-tenth of one percent of New York’s power generating capacity is provided by utility-scale solar (31.5 MW of a total 39,000 MW).[1] As a consequence, more grid-connected solar is needed to meet New York’s clean energy mandate.
• Utility-scale solar projects, such as Coeymans Solar Farm, produce less expensive electricity than smaller, distributed installations. They save an estimated 40% in building costs compared to smaller projects – savings that reduce the price of the electricity they produce.[2]
• Coeymans Solar Farm, like other utility-scale projects, employs tracking technology that follows the sun’s path to optimize the amount of electricity it can produce and minimize the project's land requirements.
• Grid-connected projects can provide electricity consumers, local utilities and power system operators with inexpensive solar energy – during high-cost summer peak demand.

• It will offer the community new, long-term dedicated tax revenue for schools and local government. It will generate municipal revenues during the operation. It will also create a new, dedicated revenue stream for the local fire department and ambulance service, supporting their missions while placing few demands on their services.
• In addition, economic activity during construction and operations will create jobs and benefit local building trades, restaurants, lodging, gas stations, and stores.

• Coeymans Solar Farm is intended to help sustain the farm on which it will be located.
• As Hecate Energy develops solar facilities, it works to preserve soil resources with an eye toward returning the land to agricultural use in the future.
• Solar facilities are among the least disruptive of any electricity-producing technologies. This project’s impact on the soil will be limited to the spots where steel beams are driven into the ground to support the solar panel arrays and small concrete pads used to hold inverter stations and transformers. As a result, the land used by the solar facility can be returned to full agricultural production after the planned life of the project.
• By providing a productive, low-impact use for the land, the solar facility also prevents the land from being sold for much higher impact uses such as residential development which creates major impacts on schools, roads, utilities, municipal services and watersheds.

• Vegetation management will primarily be done with periodic mowing and trimming. Little or no chemical vegetation control is planned. If any is used, it will be far less than farms or golf courses typically use.
• Hecate is also exploring the incorporation of pollinator-friendly vegetation and other co-development opportunities.

• Solar energy generates emission-free electricity, reduces reliance on fossil fuels and avoids greenhouse gas emissions. Energy from Coeymans Solar Farm is estimated to offset nearly 55,825 tons of CO2 per year -- equivalent to taking over 12,136 average cars off the road. [1]

• Solar facilities are great neighbors. They operate quietly without emissions or water discharges and help to preserve open space.
• Hecate Energy is working with the community to explore co-development opportunities that promote the character of the local community -- consistent with local comprehensive planning goals.
• Community impacts will be rigorously studied in the siting process administered by New York State in conjunction with local stakeholders. Issues pertaining to community, wildlife or wetland impacts will need to be addressed as part of this comprehensive process.
• The community is highly encouraged to participate in this process (See How can I participate? below).

• As part of the comprehensive environmental assessment, Hecate Energy will evaluate the potential visual impacts of the project from a variety of locations surrounding the site. Closer views, (e.g. across the road) can be mitigated with vegetative screening. More distant viewshed impacts will be assessed with digital topography analyses.

• Coeymans Solar Farm will connect directly to the existing Long Lane-Lafarge 115-kilovolt (kV) transmission line at two new substations to be built in the southern portion of the Facility Area. The electricity will flow to the nearest local points of demand. So, it is likely that most of the energy generated will flow to local consumers. 

• Electromagnetic fields (EMF) are largely associated with high voltage transmission lines and are not an issue with solar facilities.
• EMF occurs in all electrical equipment, including household appliances (televisions, microwaves, toasters, etc.). Solar facilities generate EMF comparable to household appliances.
• Health-related EMF issues have been extensively studied in peer reviewed publications and no links have been found between EMF and human health.

• The solar tracking arrays are built to robust ASCE engineering standards. In the event of extreme weather and high winds, operational procedures will be implemented to stow the trackers in a direction to best withstand high winds.

• Solar panel manufacturers provide 25-year warranties for their product and solar panels have been shown to outperform their warranties. This solar facility is expected to have a useful life of 25-35 years. 
• This long-lasting technology is being deployed with the expectation that it will provide significant and sustainable benefit to the local community and electricity customers for decades.
• The project’s economics provide assurance of its long-term operation. Most of the project costs are incurred in developing, siting, and building the facility. Once the solar facility is up and running, maintenance costs are relatively minor. To recover start-up costs and earn a profit requires that the facility produce power for the full term of the 25-35 years of its planned life.
• Solar-produced electricity is increasingly competitive in power markets, so it is expected to become one of the lowest priced electric generation sources. After its planned life, the technology could be updated, or the site returned to agricultural use, depending on the wishes of the landowner.

• The project’s decommissioning plan is an integral part of the permitting process. Based upon landowner preferences, the land will be restored to agricultural use unless circumstances at the time of decommissioning indicate that another use is more appropriate. 

• It will be configured as a ground-mounted solar facility with PV panels on galvanized steel tracker racking structures. It will include rows of single-axis trackers, oriented in a north-south direction, that rotate the PV panels from east to west following the sun’s daily path.
• The tracker structure is low-profile -- about 10 feet high above grade at the tallest point (about the height of field corn stalks). We will design and install the project with utility-standard safeguards.
• The solar panels planned for this project are the crystalline type commonly used for rooftop residential systems. They contain the same materials (glass, aluminum, plastic) used in many household products.

• Solar panels are non-hazardous and have been deployed in over 1 million residential home across the United States.
• The PV technology planned for deployment on this solar facility has been in use and continually refined since it was invented in 1954.
• More than 69,000 MW of solar power capacity is currently installed in the U.S. Another 15,000 MW of solar power capacity is expected to be installed annually over the next five years. [1]]

Hecate Energy is working to ensure that development, construction, and operation of the Coeymans Solar Facility benefits the community and the environment. We refine our project design based on community feedback. We encourage the public to provide feedback on how we may potentially improve our project concept by participating in one of the following ways:

• Contact us directly
  • Call Toll-free: 833-529-6597
• Attend our open house meetings. Please check back on our website for the schedule, which is yet to be determined.
• Request a project briefing for your group or organization 
• Contact the New York State Department of Public Service (DPS), which has a “Public Information Coordinator” to assist and advise interested parties.
  • Toll-free Opinion Line: (800) 355-2120
  • Email: secretary@dps.ny.gov
  • Or contact
    Hon. Michelle L. Phillips, Secretary of the Siting Board
    New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment
    3 Empire State Plaza
    Albany, NY 12223-1350
  • Visit: http://www.dps.ny.gov/SitingBoard