Bernards' Clean Energy Plans Progress Slowly

As has been the recent pattern, Bernards' attempts at constructing two solar panel fields have moved forward in one case, and experienced setbacks with the other.

The planned 800-kilowatt solar panel field at the Sewage Treatment Plant on Martinsville Road moved forward in an important step since the original contract award was challenged in court by two companies. Bernards the right to build the field in March, but two lawsuits delayed the construction.

After going out to bid for a second time, as required by a judge, the Sewerage Authority awarded the contract again to Dobco, Inc. this time for at a cost of $4,024,672 (approximately $300,000 less than the original $4.278 million contract).

APS Contractors, one of the challengers of the original decision, submitted the lowest bid again, but also failed to include plans for a solar panel field large enough to meet the minimum standards of the project, according to Sewerage Authority Administrator Pete Messina. The township must award the contract to the lowest, responsible bidder, but because of the failure to include proper estimates of the solar field's power, the Sewerage Authority decided to pass on APS.

APS included specifications for an 833-kilowatt project using standard testing condition (STC) estimates for solar panel power. The specifications called for companies to provide estimates using the more accurate photovoltaic USA test conditions (PTC) estimates, which simulate the effects of weather, wind and other natural factors. Under this measurement, the APS project would only provide approximately 749-kilowatts, according to Messina.

"[Using PTC estimates] must have been in the specs 100 times," Messina said. "APS just doesn't understand it, that's the problem." The firm also failed to include the right estimates in the original bidding process, among other things, and Bernards won the challenge the company brought against the Sewerage Authority in court.

Dobco narrowly beat out Vanguard, the other court challenger, for the contract, both of which submitted responsive, responsible bids, according to Messina. The latter company's proposal called for a slightly higher price tag of $4.1 million.

Because the award was about $1 million less than the proposed $5 million budget for the project, Messina said the Sewerage Authority will be able to explore expanding the project on the site slightly as it moves forward into the construction phase.

"The idea was to spend as much as we can to put as much on the property as possible," Messina said. "There is probably land to put another 50 or 60 kilowatts of power on."

Barring any further court challenges, construction on the project should begin right away, and be completed within a six-month timeframe, according to Messina.

Mayor Scott Spitzer said at the June 15 Sewerage Authority meeting, "I support this project, because I think it helps address one of the most pressing issues in the country today, and that's getting beyond petroleum."

Pill Hill Solar Project Stalls

Despite the progress on the Sewerage Authority solar project, the much larger potential solar field at the Pill Hill landfill has stalled due to no bids being submitted during the recent bidding period, as reported by Township Administrator Bruce McArthur at the June 15 Township Committee meeting.

"What happened was, unfortunately nothing happened," McArthur said. "We didn't have any bidders. Forty-five sets of the specifications were downloaded or picked up from the township, but nobody bid."

McArthur said that based on correspondence with one of the more interested parties prior to the bids suggested that some of the more rigorous insurance requirements and upfront payments might have scared off potential bidders. "We may have to relax some of the insurance conditions and possibly the upfront payment to make sure it's a viable project," McArthur said.

Spitzer and the Township Committee members instructed McArthur to get more feedback from previously interested parties about why they chose not to bid, before deciding to restructuring the project specifications and trying again.