A developer wants to build a solar farm on a vacant property in Scott Twp. a month after officials in another township in northern Lackawanna County rejected their plans for a similar farm.
Pivot Energy looks to build a 2.7-megawatt AC ground mounted solar energy facility with about 5,200 panels on 10 acres of a property on Carbondale Road near the South Abington Twp. border. The panels will be mounted on a single-axis tracker, with the project set back 100 feet from the parcel boundaries, surrounded by an 8-foot high fence and trees, according the application submitted by Gordon Woodcock, project director for Pivot.
Township supervisors will hold a conditional use hearing on the project July 15.
The array, which will be accessed by a 20-foot gravel driveway, will produce about 4,370 MWh annually, which Woodcock said is enough for more than 300 residences.
Woodcock said in the application the site won’t emit light, noise, odors, pollution or emission, and will comply with township ordinances on operations, fire and explosion hazards, noise, lighting and glare. It will include native plants, which sheep will be used to manage.
It will have a stormwater management and decommissioning plan in place, as well as interconnection approval with PPL.
The property has been owned by Donald, Elizabeth, Cheryl and Barbara Race since 1995, according to county property records.
Woodcock said in the application the site was chosen because of its proximity to electrical infrastructure, including substations and electrical distribution lines, and the site’s topography, which he said is flat and has good access to the sun without shading or obstructions. The site is in the township’s development district.
He also said solar projects like the one proposed can offset demands on the utility system by providing economic, locally produced energy. Woodcock pointed to the site’s close proximity to Interstate 81 and numerous residential developments in the application, adding it won’t adversely impact the township.
“A good solar site has existing utility infrastructure nearby, is relatively flat, and does not require significant clearing or grading. Pivot Energy’s proposed Scott Township project site meets all of these criteria. Pivot is committed to ensuring that our agrivoltaics practices include dual-use activities such as sheep or other grazing; our solar farms utilize low-impact design features, such as agricultural fencing, and creation of pollinator habitat using native grasses and flowering plants; and that our projects optimize energy generation using technology like single-axis trackers. These important features make solar farms a beneficial and productive use of the land,” he said in an email. “Specific to this site, the proposed Scott Township solar project is near a number of commercial and industrial properties that can utilize the energy produced by the project as part of a diverse mix of utility energy sources. Pivot is hopeful that community members and decision makers will view these and related projects positively.”
The township’s planning commission approved the project in May with conditions that there be glare control during construction, a decommissioning bond with the township and that the township will see a sample host agreement.
This is the second solar farm the Denver, Colorado-headquartered Pivot Energy has proposed in Lackawanna County this year. In June, Ransom Twp. supervisors denied the company’s request for conditional use to build 6,550 solar modules on 18 acres of a nearly 300-acre parcel at Ransom and Lower Narrows roads in that township.
Supervisors said in their decision the proposal didn’t comply with adjoining development, would impact the area’s rural nature, harm property values and the developer failed to provide evidence about the anticipated glare from the facility and how the farm’s potential effects on area properties and public roads would be controlled.
Attorneys representing the solar company filed an appeal of the decision last month.
The farm is the latest to be proposed in Scott Twp. Officials approved plans in 2023 submitted by Massachusetts-based ECA Solar to install panels on Chapman Lake Road. Township manager Carl Ferraro said Tuesday the company recently received approval from PPL to connect the solar farm into the electric grid.