A new solar tracker in Craftsbury funded by Good Neighbor Fund payments provided by GMP is helping the town go green and generate its own power. The ribbon cutting is September 11th at 5:30 pm at the Craftsbury Town Garage, and GMP will attend to honor the launch of this important community project. In March, Craftsbury residents voted overwhelmingly to use its Good Neighbor payment from the Kingdom Community Wind Project to pay for a Solar Tracker. The 10-kilowatt solar electric system was installed in August and is generating enough power to cover approximately one-third of Craftsbury’s municipal electric needs.
“This is such an exciting project for our town,” said Lisa Sammet who serves on the Craftsbury Energy Committee. “GMP’s Good Neighbor Payment helped residents make the decision to build this clean energy project that is already providing a great benefit to taxpayers.”
The payment is part of GMP’s commitment to give back to surrounding communities by sharing with them the benefits of Kingdom Community Wind through the Good Neighbor Fund. Payments are made annually. Thanks to strong power generation at the Kingdom Community Wind Farm, five Northeast Kingdom towns received more than $126,000 in January of this year. Albany received $41,262, Eden $45,711, Craftsbury $19,986, and Westfield and Irasburg, each received $10,000.The Good Neighbor Fund provides benefits to the five towns within five miles of the project and is based on the amount of power produced.
"We are thrilled to be able to provide this payment from one clean energy project to help power more clean energy projects," GMP Spokesperson Kristin Carlson."GMP is committed to being a good neighbor and sharing the value of Kingdom Community Wind with residents in surrounding towns.”
The communities will continue to get Good Neighbor payments for the first ten years the 21-turbine plant operates. Kingdom Community Wind began generating power in November 2012.