Sudbury board authorizes two solar PPAs to lock in federal tax credits before deadline

SUDBURY — August 12, 2025 — Sudbury Select Board safe-harbors $1.6M in federal solar tax credits with rushed 5-0 PPA vote. The board authorized two power purchase agreements with Select Energy — a 1.2-megawatt canopy at Haskell Field and a 137-kilowatt array behind the Police Station — locking in the 30 percent federal Investment Tax Credit before Treasury guidance tightening eligibility lands around Aug. 21. Select Energy representative Byron Woodman told the board the deals project roughly $4 million in 25-year electricity savings at PPA rates of 17.5 and 19.4 cents per kilowatt-hour, with Select Energy carrying about $600,000 in panel-procurement risk. Member Daniel Carty pressed on the 48-hour posting window, procurement and counterparty risk if Select Energy "goes out of business a year from now." Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran separately told the board that solar will not move forward on the Haynes and Nixon school roofs in this MSBA cycle; a structural-loading analysis would add at least $100,000 and several months, and the Haynes roof "is leaking profusely."