Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 11:54:22 AM - by Jeanne Roberts

It’s surprising how many wastewater treatment plants across the country are going solar Energy.
The conversions are a response to allocations under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA, 2009) and distributed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These funds, totaling $6 billion, have been dedicated to clean water and drinking water infrastructure, with $2 billion specifically allocated for water treatment (and distribution), and $4 billion for wastewater infrastructure and surface and groundwater quality improvements.

As of July 15, nearly $4.85 billion, or 82 percent, of funds were made available, though only $18 million have been paid out. Still, the results are becoming evident across the nation, particularly in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, one of 12 such facilities across the state to get its own solar power installation to help lower the cost of electricity.

The state plan, operating under the dual aegis of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and the Department of Environmental Protection (or DEP, which manages the State Revolving Fund), calls for a total of 4 megawatts of solar power, but Pittsfield alone captured 1.57-megawatts of that total.

The Pittsfield solar installation is projected to reduce that utility’s energy consumption from Western Massachusetts Electric Co. (WMECO) by 30 percent, or about $200,000 annually, according to Pittsfield Public Works Commissioner Bruce Collingwood – a figure he described as “significant”.

The solar array will also reduce greenhouse gases, even though WMECO’s generation mix – 33 percent nuclear, 39 percent natural gas, 14 percent coal and 8 percent oil – is surprisingly good for an Eastern utility.

Pittsfield, the only Western Massachusetts community on the list of 12 designees, is getting the solar array because it agreed to be part of an energy management pilot program called Energy Management Pilot for Wastewater and Drinking Water Plants initiated by the DEP in 2008. The program, which originally targeted 14 water and wastewater facilities across the state, is the brainchild of Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. The program brought together state and federal agencies, along with regional electric and gas utilities, to audit water utilities in an attempt to determine those who would most benefit from clean energy initiatives like solar.

One of ARRA’s stipulations is that one-fifth of all funding for water improvements be allocated to “green” upgrades like solar energy, largely because water utilities usually account for about 30 percent of an individual city’s energy budget, and almost 40 percent of that cost comes from the electricity needed to treat water.

In fact, Massachusetts' cities spend about $150 million every year to treat approximately 662 billion gallons of wastewater and drinking water, which makes water utilities huge contributors to the greenhouse gas problem that results from burning hydrocarbons.