National Life Group has been granted apermitby the Vermont Public Service Board to build a 500-kilowatt solar array project on about 4.5 acres of its Montpelier campus.
National Life Group said it was pleased that the Public Service Board supported the company’s goal of generating renewable, sustainable electricity. The company is reviewing the project and the board’s decision.
The 2,090 stationary, ground-mounted panels would be installed on 95 racks near the southern portion of the company’s property, approximately 325 feet from the closest neighbors on Northfield Street/Vermont Route 12 and would be screened with 20, five-foot-tall hemlock trees.
The proposed project has been endorsed by the city of Montpelier and the Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission.
The planned solar array “promotes the City’s goal, as communicated in the Montpelier Master Plan dated September 8, 2010, of creating alternative energy sources so that ‘Montpelier’s energy is generated by renewable resources of local origin …’,” Mayor John Hollar wrote to the state Public Service Board on behalf of the City Council.
The arrays would provide 725,000 kilowatt hours of power, or 15 percent of National Life Group’s annual electricity consumption. The company’s 525,000 square foot building, the largest commercial building in the state, is home to roughly 2,000 National Life Group and state of Vermont employees. The project is separate from a 70-kilowatt solar array installed on the company’s roof in 2008.
The companies of National Life Group offer a broad range of financial products, including life insurance, annuities, and investments, and financial solutions in the form of estate, business succession and retirement planning strategies. They are a leading provider of 403(b)and 457(b) tax-deferred retirement plans,primarily in theK-12 school marketplace.
Source: Montpelier, Vermont – National Life Group March 11, 2014
Vermont Public Service Board approves National Life Group solar project
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