Electric Department Readies for Solar Farm

HUNTINGDON (October 31) — The Carroll County Electric Department’s board of directors approved revised substation improvement plans for the Trezevant substation to support installing a new solar array, adjacent to the department’s substation, located on Power Station Road and S.R. 105.

Due to some increased costs associated with the project, CCED approved splitting the additional fee of $383,000 equally with Silicon Ranch, a Tennessee-based company that will own and operate the solar array and supply electricity to Carroll County Electric at a price less than TVA.

Silicon Ranch provided a secondary option to absorb the additional capital expenditure, extending the Power Purchase Agreement to 35 years, and upwardly adjusting the price to $52/MWh. This option was not recommended to the Board to pursue.

CCED estimates that the additional costs will be recaptured in three to four months through the savings from lower-cost power generation.

The board approved the Trezevant Substation Addition Bid (Revision 2) from low bidder Power Grid Company, also known as the Silicon Ranch Trezevant Solar Project Construction Bid which is the source of increased cost mentioned above.

Scott Burleson of Allen & Hoshall, the project managers, discussed the project’s cost and design history. He reviewed the construction bid and the two redesigns completed to reduce the costs but maintain the intended reliability and flexibility.

The interconnection cost overrun is directly tied to the cost increases in the construction bids, as compared to cost estimates from one year earlier.

The two bids were:

Groves Construction — $698,000

Power Grid Company — $679,825

Approval was given to purchase a 2025 Ford F-150 pickup truck to replace Truck #382. Peppers Ford of McKenzie was the lone bidder of three solicited. Peppers Ford bid $44,229.

Once the new replacement pickup truck arrives, the existing truck will be sold on GovDeals.

A new digger truck will soon be placed in service. The new truck was ordered in October 2021. Due to construction delays caused by the pandemic, the truck is finally pending delivery after CCED’s recent inspection.