PROJECT OVERVIEW

Foothills Solar Farm is a 40 MW project located in the Town of Mayfield, in the County of Fulton. The project will be ground-mounted and developed on separate parcels of land.

The project will include solar arrays and other project features such as access roads, switching station, and an electrical interconnection to the National Grid 69 kV transmission line. The project was originated in 2021 by Boralex.

The project aligns with the New York State Public Service Commission’s Clean Energy Standard, which supports the development of clean energy and renewable resources in New York State (NYS). The Foothills Solar Project has been chosen as part of the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) 2021 solicitation for Tier-1 eligible renewable energy certificates. This a significant milestone in the development of the project, as it begins a process for Boralex and NYSERDA to execute an agreement to purchase the renewable energy that will be generated at the facility.

PERMITTING PROCESS

Currently in early-stage development, the facility is expected to be commissioned in 2025.

Boralex has begun to engage with the local community (e.g. landowners, town and county representatives, state officials, school districts and other groups of interest) and will pursue this consultation process throughout all phases of development and operations.

Environmental and permitting activities began in late 2021 and will be governed under the new 94-c permitting process through the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES). Environmental field surveys and studies completed and planned for the site, include: breeding and winter bird surveys, wetland field surveys, archeological studies, noise and visual studies, geotechnical assessments and electrical resistivity, as well as other environmental and technical studies. These studies and surveys are required as part of the regulatory application process described below.

Permitting activities are expected to span throughout 2022 and 2023, with our 94-c application submission anticipated in late 2023.

All project infrastructure will be situated in such a manner as to respect municipal, state, and federal regulations, as well as taking into consideration feedback from residents and other stakeholders.

PROJECT BENEFITS

The project offers economic, social, and environmental benefits locally and to the State of New York and:

• Create approximately 50 jobs during construction

• Create long-term jobs to support operations

• Boost local economy and add commerce for local businesses during the construction and the operation

• Provide significant tax revenues to the Town of Mayfield, Fulton County, and to local school districts

• Provide quiet, emission free, reliable power to NYS for the equivalent of approximately 10,000-12,000 households per year

• Help NYS achieve its goal of 70% clean power generation by 2030

  To learn more about solar generation and its benefits, click here.

PROCESS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS

The Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act (the “Act”) was passed in April 2020 as part of the enacted state budget. The provision added a new section to the Executive Law, titled Major Renewable Energy Development (“94-c”), which is intended to establish a review process with uniform permit standards for New York State renewable energy projects in place of the procedures set forth in Article 10 of the Public Service Law (“Article 10”).

The Act created a newly established Office of Renewable Energy Siting (“ORES”), within the New York State Department of State, as part of the 94-c process, to provide a central forum for the environmental review and permitting of proposed major renewable energy facilities, includes those with a nameplate generating capacity of 25 megawatts (MW) or more, co-located energy storage systems, and electric transmission lines less than 10 miles in length.

The Foothills Solar project will be subject to the regulations outlined in the 94-c process and Boralex intends to make an application for the Project to ORES in 2023.

OPEN HOUSE

Boralex will hold a series of public open houses as development continues. Boards from our first Open House in February 2023 can be found here.

CONTACT

For more information please contact our team:

Mike Peckford, (902) 670-7562, mike.peckford@boralex.com

Megan Stewart, (385) 232-0556, megan.stewart@boralex.com

Members of the media, please contact Zack Hutchins, (518) 727-6155, zachary.hutchins@boralex.com