Antigonish Town Mayor Laurie Boucher provided an update on the town`s solar garden project.
Following Monday`s regular meeting of council, Boucher was asked about the status of the solar garden, which she said began in 2019. She said they are hoping to have it up and running in the fall.
Boucher said they faced a lot of challenges with the project, noting they faced an increase in costs due to weather delays, equipment repairs, and adjustments made to address environmental concerns. The town also switched from a subscription based model to a model Boucher said will benefit all rate payers for the town`s electric utility.
Boucher said the idea behind the solar garden is to stabilize the cost of electricity for town utility customers, with the power produced by the garden reducing the amount of power the town has to purchase from outside sources.
As for costs, Boucher listed the expenses for the project as of March 31 at $4,548,639. The town`s expected costs for this fiscal year is anticipated to be $2,331,000.