The Mill Pond Water Treatment Facility is the highest energy user of all of Burlington’s buildings, after its schools, and thanks to a series of grants and incentives, a 66.6-kilowatt solar array is now live on its roof, with a projects annual savings of more than $18,000.
“This is the first Town-side solar array, and we are excited to see the energy savings from this project,” the DPW said in a statement. “The Town was awarded this grant in January 2023 and has been working diligently to complete the project since issued the notice to proceed.”
The total cost of the project was $199,189, but the town only pitched in about 10 percent, or $19,565, to be exact. The rest of the funding came from a Gap Energy Grant from the MassDEP, a funding program that supports energy efficient and renewable-energy projects around the state. Burlington also benefited from $3,534 in incentives from Eversource.
According to the DPW, the solar panels will produce 87,200 kilowatt hours of energy per year, which, for context, is about as much energy as eight sing-family homes would use in a year. The treatment plant uses far more electric than the solar array is estimated to generate: It’s estimated to cover about 5 percent of the annual kilowatt hours used by Mill Pond Treatment Facility. The project is expected to save the town $18,436 per year.
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