Mean, green solar machine
John P. Cleary | The Herald Bulletin These are part of the solar panel banks that make up the 10-acre Frankton Solar Park that was built by Indiana Municipal Power Agency last year. They have proposed to build another solar park in the Pendleton area.Solar park planned for Anderson
Posted: Monday, October 5, 2015 11:00 am
ANDERSON – The Indiana Municipal Power Agency is seeking a 10-year tax abatement to construct a solar electric generating facility on the northeast corner of Rangeline Road and Indiana 32.
The property is owned by the Anderson Municipal Airport, which is expected to lease the property to the Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA).
The Anderson City Council on Thursday is being asked to approve a preliminary designation as an economic revitalization area.
IMPA is planning to construct a generating facility with five megawatts of capacity and is planning a $9.1 million investment.
The requested 10-year tax abatement is on the equipment.
A final hearing on the approval of the tax abatement is set for Nov. 12 by the city council.
IMPA intends to install solar photovoltaic panels, inverters, transformers, rack mounts, wiring circuit breakers, relays and related equipment, which will be connected directly to the Anderson Municipal Light & Power distribution system.
Greg Winkler, executive director of the Anderson Economic Development Department, said IMPA currently obtains the majority of their electrical power from a shared state of the coal-fired plant in Illinois.
Winkler said IMPA is planning to build solar generating facilities in most of the communities that it serves.
IMPA currently has solar generating facilities in Frankton, Crawfordsville, Rensselear and Peru that can generate 9,520 kilowatts of electricity.