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Page • Warren County Report • Early June, 010 Read all issues in their entirety FREE on www.WarrenCountyReport.com
Front Royal
It would appear…that the not too distant notion of a 150-acre solar field with an associated R&D Center
has been abandoned as a potential site-wide use for the business park – and so much for the fairy tale
“Brownfield to Greenfield ending” to the 1-year-old Avtex Superfund saga.
Is the future now or never for solar in Front Royal?
Fairy tale ‘Brown to Green’ ending to Avtex story may be history
At a late June 2009 EDA meeting Town Manager Graham
explains how an initiative to put solar panels on
government buildings morphed into something more,
Front Royal as a major regional energy hub. Could
solar opponents’ modus operandi be “if we can’t get
you, we can get your ideas”?
By Roger Bianchini
Warren County Report
At one level in mid-May things
seemed to be moving at a rapid pace
concerning a solar power proposal
for Front Royal, yet at another it appeared
things were creeping toward
oblivion.
At a May 17th Front Royal Town
Council work session a letter from
AMP-Ohio Assistant Vice President
of Power Supply Planning and Transmission
Michael Migliore outlined
his company’s plans to begin introduction
of 300 megawatts of solar
power into its municipal cooperative’s
energy network, which includes
Front Royal.
That plan begins with the creation
of 8.07 megawatts of solar power at a
Front Royal site as soon as possible,
Migliore wrote. He also stated that
AMP was involved in development
of a Power Purchase Agreement
(PPA) with Standard Energy to facilitate
that solar energy plan and that
company officials had met with representatives
from the local Economic
Development Authority to discuss
the proposal that day.
“The first site to be developed by
Standard will be in Front Royal,”
Migliore said in a May 17th letter to
Town Manager Michael Graham.
However after the intervening week
and comments at the subsequent
council meeting of May 4th, there
appear to be many hanging ends on
whether Front Royal will ever host
any portion of a solar power generat-
ing facility.
Two primary questions appear to
remain:
1. will the Front Royal Town Council
ever commit to purchasing any solar
power?
. and if so, where will the Front Royal
solar fields be located?
AMP options
To facilitate its solar proposal, Migliore
wrote that AMP is presenting
two options to the town. The munici-
239 C. South Street
Front Royal, VA 22630
pal energy cooperative’s preferred
option appears to be to facilitate
immediate movement on construction
here. That would entail the town
committing to purchasing the entire
8.07 megawatts up front, then reduce
its commitment down to megawatts
as other AMP members buy into the
company’s initial solar power offering
from the Front Royal site. The second
option is that the town only commit
to its eventual megawatt purchase
with construction commencing after
the other member municipalities buy
into the remaining 6.07 megawatts.
Perhaps ironically at the May 4th
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From left at a June 2009 EDA meeting on the solar
idea, Town Manager Michael Graham, SolAVerde’s
Greg Horton, and County Supervisor Tony Carter.
Could trouble in paradise be brewing already?
town council meeting, the man Vice
Mayor Bret Hrbek has accused of attempted
sabotage of the solar power
proposal brought here last June,
pressed Town Manager Michael Graham
to reveal “the good news” about
that proposal.
Councilman Tom Sayre initially
questioned the business and personal
character of potential private sector
solar investors in the fall of 009.
That criticism focused on NY developer
Kent Swig following a council
authorized trip to New York City by
Mayor Eugene Tewalt and Graham
to listen to initial project investment
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strategies. Later Sayre, along with
Chris Holloway and Carson Lauder
questioned the town manager’s involvement
in the negotiating process
leading to some testy work session
exchanges earlier this year.
But on May 4th things seemed
rosier as Sayre asked Graham if he
was going to reveal what the councilman
termed “good news” about the
solar project. Graham responded
that he was reluctant to address the
proposal’s status because as of yet
AMP President Marc Gerken had
not signed off on the AMP board approved
moves on the development
of solar energy. So as of yet, Graham
explained, nothing was or is official
on any AMP-Standard Energy solar
movement toward Front Royal
as part of a now multi-faceted plan
spread across many member localities.
EDA perspective
C C R
Following that exchange between
Graham and Sayre, EDA Executive
Director Jennifer McDonald addressed
the referenced May 17th
meeting with AMP and Standard
Energy officials, Magliore from AMP
and Mark Ballentine and Todd Wyder
from Standard.
She reiterated that the AMP plan
did not involve placing all of its proposed
300 megawatts of solar power
here. She said that it appeared the initial
8 megawatts might be increased
to 0 megawatts or up to a maximum
of 40 megawatts here.
She agreed with Graham, that
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