VISION 2025 | Solar energy project rising in Bedford County to support natural gas network

BEDFORD, Pa. – A massive solar array under construction along U.S. Route 220 in Bedford Township is being built for a facility that provides liquid natural gas as fuel for electricity generation, transportation and heat.

Canadian energy company Enbridge is installing thousands of solar panels across 41 acres of privately owned farmland adjacent to its Texas Eastern Transmission natural gas facility in Bedford.

Once the site is completed, the electricity generated by the solar farm will offset a portion of the electric load Enbridge needs to power its electrically driven compressor units that keep natural gas flowing in the Texas Eastern pipeline system, Enbridge spokeswoman Kristen Henson said.

“Construction is underway, and we anticipate placing the project into service by May,” Henson said.

The Texas Eastern Transmission Pipeline is an 8,580-mile liquid natural gas network that connects Texas and the Gulf Coast with high-demand markets in the northeastern United States.

“To ensure optimal flow through the Texas Eastern system, natural gas must be periodically compressed and pushed through the pipeline,” she said. “Numerous compressor stations, like our existing Bedford compressor station, across the transmission system give the natural gas a needed boost to get from one point to the next.”

Enbridge’s seven-megawatt Bedford solar project will help supply some of the electrical power needed to pump liquid natural gas to heat homes, hospitals, businesses and schools, Henson said.

PHOTO GALLERY | Vision 2025 | Solar Array | Rt. 220 | Bedford County

The compressor station uses electrically driven compressor units that are significant users of electricity.

According to a study published on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website, a single megawatt of electricity equates to about the same amount of electricity consumed by 400 to 900 homes in a year.

The seven-megawatt Enbridge solar farm has the capacity to produce seven times that amount of electricity, though solar energy farms typically produce less than their capacity because their fuel source is intermittent.

All the acreage being used for the project is private farmland of one landowner, though additional landowners are involved in the project to help Texas Eastern bring power from the 41-acre site to the nearby facility, Henson said.

‘A lot of solar’

Bedford Township Supervisor Gregory Crist said the township has not received any complaints about the project.

“Most of the people don’t say too much about the solar panels,” he said. “They are most concerned about noise or the panels lighting stuff up, but we’ve got ordinances in place to take care of that.”

Crist said he has seen other businesses in the Bedford area install solar panels that have effectively reduced their electricity bills.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration made two tax credits and a variety of bonus tax credits available for businesses that purchase solar energy systems, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The investment tax credit reduces the federal income tax liability for a percentage of the cost of a solar system that is installed during the tax year, and the production tax credit is a per-kilowatt-hour tax credit for electricity. A set of tax incentives are also available for companies building utility-scale projects.

“I think that’s where you are seeing a lot of the development, with the previous administration putting funding into what they define as cleaner energy,” said Stephanie Clevenstine, director of the Bedford County Planning Commission, a neutral agency that reviews proposed solar development plans in Bedford based on municipal ordinances.

Clevenstine said she foresees more solar development in the future unless President Donald Trump’s administration changes solar incentives in favor of policies more oriented toward natural gas and coal.

“We’ve had multiple conversations with solar companies that are interested in looking to develop in the county,” she said.

“So I think as long as the federal funding remains in place, you will see a lot of solar – just have to keep an eye on what happens with the new administration, but that may ultimately affect what happens with solar development you see.”

‘Fuzz and buzz’

As people are seeing the Enbridge project now under development, two Colorado-based companies have also recently submitted land development plans for utility-scale solar projects in the county.

In December, Bear Peak East Providence LLC and Pivot Energy submitted plans to build solar arrays, both requiring thousands of panels. Both of those projects are set to generate three megawatts of electricity each. Unlike the Enbridge project, those solar farms are planned for distribution to the electricity grid that supplies power wholesale to utility companies that resell it at retail prices to consumers.

According to Pivot Energy’s land development review letter posted on the Bedford County Planning Commission’s website, the company plans to build a utility-scale solar array on private land off Interstate 99 in Bedford Township. Bear Peak East Providence LLC has filed plans to build a solar array in East Providence Township.

Based on discussions with electric utility companies, Clevenstine said that while utility-scale solar projects supply clean energy to the grid, local residents are not likely to see lower energy bills as a result.

However, there are some agricultural and potential economic benefits, she said.

“You won’t see your bills reduced, but I think, economically, you can see potentially other jobs come into play,” she said. “Pivot Energy, when they spoke at our meeting, indicated they use what they call ‘fuzz and buzz.’ ”

The term “fuzz and buzz” refers to the company’s practice of using a specific mix of native grasses at its solar project sites that provides forage for grazing animals such as sheep and promotes pollination by bees.

“That way, the land is maintained and you have that environmental factor,” Clevenstine said. “And I could see if our tech schools would introduce solar panel maintenance into their curriculum, that would be beneficial, but as far as reducing bills for customers, I don’t foresee that.”

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