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The Brightfield
project team has had to overcome a number of barriers to bring the project from
concept to development. The key barriers include:
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Financing – obtaining grant funds. These barriers were overcome by
leveraging community support and political support, outreach to key
stakeholders.
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Legal and Regulatory Barriers – Need for Special Legislation. This barrier
was overcome by working closely with the Brockton City Council and State
Legislature to develop, file, and pass special legislation. Other
stakeholders were called upon to provide support with key contacts.
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Complex process / lean municipal staffing. This barrier was overcome
largely through obtaining grant funds to support consulting and legal fees.
Consultants performed technical and financial feasibility analysis,
assistance developing electricity and REC agreements, community outreach,
and overall project management. The home rule petitions, negotiation of REC
contracts and the REC guarantee program, and development of the Request for
Proposals required sophisticated legal advice.
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Transactional costs – layers of bureaucracy and permissions, multiple
funding sources. Transactional costs were high and were largely manageable
due to grant funds and consultants dramatically reducing or waiving fees to
see the project through to fruition. The city paid only $30,000 of its own
funds in consulting fees throughout the project's duration.
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Impact of time – changing market conditions, especially energy and REC
markets. This was largely uncontrollable due to the project's complexity.
It resulted in the project changing course from growing itself through
positive cash flow to potentially facing a slightly negative cash flow.
About the Grove Street Site
Why a Solar Brightfield?
Project Goals and Objectives
Project Partners
Project Steps and Timeline
Barriers Encountered and Methods for Overcoming
Barriers
Phase I Proposal from Global Solar Team
Lessons Learned
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