www.solarconnecticut.org/news-detail.php?id=2&PHPSESSID -
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Published on: 11/22/2006
Last Visited: 6/28/2008
The Town of Westport, in order to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship and to address both the constraints of the electrical grid of Southwestern Connecticut as well as the impending increase in the utility rates, is going solar at Westport Fire Headquarters, according to Mark Pizzi, a principal with Westport Solar Consultants.
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Pizzi told the Westport News that characterizing the PV system as not fiscally responsible and not cost effective is "a little bit short-sighted."
"In fact," he said, "The current economic profile for this project, of which the dissenters point, is a profile that only considers the current rate of electricity and therefore, does not take into account the long-term forecasted rate increases which have trended in the past two years at greater than 20 percent."
"It is my feeling, along with those who voted to approve this project, that the merits of doing solar in the Town of Westport must include the strong environmental, social and regional implications in addition to the final analysis.By doing this project, the Town of Westport is taking a firm stance and a leadership role in addressing the energy challenges, which include the shortage of oil and the constraints on our electric structures that this nation as a whole faces today."
Pizzi, responding to the statement that the solar panels may not work in the winter, said that is a "completely inaccurate assessment."