Amherst Sunrise urges town manager to use ARPA funds for solar canopy over ARHS parking lot
Amherst Sunrise, a local hub of a national youth-led organization fighting for the Green New Deal, has advocated to have a solar canopy installed over the Amherst Regional High School parking lot since 2019.
What started as just a residential capital request to the Town of Amherst has now become the talk of the school as students believe a solar canopy will be a new way for ARHS to not only be environmentally friendly but also energy efficient.
“We are passionate about this placement because there are so many parking lots that could have solar on them and don’t and we think it’s super important to use that space,” said Amrita Rutter, a senior at ARHS and a leader of Amherst Sunrise.
ARPA Funds Could Support Solar Canopy Project
Funding could come from The American Rescue Plan Act (commonly known as “ARPA”) which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, to provide financial relief in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“ARPA funding has been given to the town, and we can choose to use this to move forward with the project,” said Julian Hynes, a senior at ARHS and another leader of Amherst Sunrise. To do that the local hub would need to convince the town manager to apply the funds to the solar canopy project.
Town Manager’s Decison
Using grant money given from the residential capital request, GZA Geo-Environmental, Inc. conducted a feasibility study on the ARHS parking lot to see if a solar canopy could be installed. The study found ways to implement this project efficiently, giving assurance that this is a good use of funds.
This feasibility study was then publicized by Amherst Sunrise, which led town manager Paul Bockleman to consider putting ARPA funds toward the project.
Amherst Sunrise then rallied support to increase the likelihood that Bockelman would say yes. “We did that by urging people to send him emails, posting on social media, and putting out an Op-Ed on Amherst Indy,” said Rutter.
However, the solar canopy project has been postponed by the town manager many times. There was supposed to be a final decision on Labor Day of 2023. That was postponed to January 8, 2024. Then, last week, in a recent Town Council meeting, Bockelman postponed it yet again.
“There is competition among other entities to receive this money,” said Hynes. “Last time the ARPA money was distributed, most of it went to pay a wealthy developer to build The Drake.” Hynes acknowledged that was “a success,” but said it has also led “to projects like this not being moved forward.”
Why a Solar Canopy?
There are many reasons why Amherst Sunrise believes a solar canopy over the parking lot will be useful for ARHS.
For one, companies that install solar panels on once-forested land come with a cost as they must clear-cut forests to install them. This has a net negative impact on the environment. “However, placing solar panels over parking lots utilizes land that has already been environmentally ruined,” said Jesse Warren, a senior at ARHS and another member of Amherst Sunrise.
More obviously, the local hub believes that it will save the district hundreds of thousands in electricity costs, while implementation costs will be covered by federal money rather than school funds.
This would free up the money paid to Eversouce, an energy provider serving customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, to be redistributed in funding school programs and raising teacher salaries.
Those interested can learn more by reading Rutter’s opinion piece Use Town’s ARPA Funds To Construct Solar Canopies Over High School Parking Lot, published in The Amherst Indy, and can read comments from community members, almost unanimous in their support for the idea. They can also follow Amherst Sunrise on Instagram to learn what they are up to.
