Cavendish Solar Array Construction Awarded to Prudent Living

On Friday, September 12, the Cavendish Select board reviewed the three applications submitted for the 150 Kw solar array and awarded the contract to Prudent Living.

 The award criteria for the project was based on: cost; completeness of submitted proposal; and qualifications of the contractor including references as well as history of success and experience with similar projects. The board compared the three proposals on all aspects of the project-Monitoring System, layout, warranties, panels, inverters, design work etc.

 Of the three proposals by Aegis Renewable Energy, Prudent Living and the partnership of Soveren/USA Solar Store, Prudent Living had the lowest bid of $399,512. Aegis was the highest at $448,777 while the Partnership was in the middle with $428,688.

 Aegis and Prudent Living received excellent recommendations from projects similar to Cavendish’s 150 Kw system. Aegis is responsible for the town of Warren’s array and Prudent Living has completed three projects of verifying sizes and configurations for Black River Produce. Because this is a new partnership between Soveren Solar and USA Solar Store, they do not have a track record at this time, though each has been involved in various activities throughout the state.

 It should be noted that Cavendish awarded Soveren Solar a contract last fall to install an array using a business partnership model. This effort fell through, which prompted the Energy Committee to look at other options resulting in the town realizing it would be in their best interest to pass a bond and under take the construction and ownership themselves.

 In order to maximize incentive benefits from the state, this project has to be completed and producing power by Dec. 27. Selectmen Wendy Regier asked the Energy Committee who they felt most comfortable working with. There was complete agreement with the Select Board’s choice of Prudent Living.