Sunny Days Ahead For Peabody

The Peabody Municipal Light Plant will soon be able to harness the power of the sun, bringing savings to ratepayers and diversifying its energy portfolio, according to Mayor Ted Bettencourt.

The City Council recently approved a change in the city’s zoning bylaws allowing for the creation of a Solar Overlay District.

This zoning change will allow for the installation of ground-mounted solar structures, better known as solar farms, on city property.

The Peabody Municipal Light Plant is currently negotiating with a company that would have the right to locate solar panels on city property.

Those individual sites would have to meet with City Council approval.

“This would be a source of revenue for the city,” said Bettencourt. “These are parcels of land that are not developable sites.”

The potential sites are on Warren Street Extension, opposite the Kiley School, near the PMLP switching station on Summit Street, and near Waters River.

The solar panels will help diversify PMLP’s power portfolio and also create savings for ratepayers.

Image via shutterstock