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."