New Milford Pulls Tax Benefits From Solar Power Company

NEW MILFORD, CT — Candlewood Solar, the company behind the proposed solar farm that would generate 20 megawatts of power on Candlewood Mountain will no longer get tax benefits from the town, The News Times is reporting.

The agreement between the alternative energy company and the town was signed last year by Mayor David Gronbach. It stipulated that the power company and the company that owns the land would pay the town a total of $2.7 million over the solar farm’s installation's 20-year lifespan.

Current Mayor Pete Bass has decided not to implement the agreement because the facility has not received approval from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Bass does not expect that it ever will. DEEP approval is one of the agreement's contingents.

The controversial project calls for the clear cutting of about 70 acres of trees. Environmentalists uphold that would harm wildlife habitats on the mountain, and some residents believe it will diminish property values. An activist group, Rescue Candlewood Mountain, filed a brief with the Superior Court earlier this month.

For more, see The News Times.

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