Electrical groups weigh in on solar dispute

Editor’s note: Click the links below to read the letters referenced in the article.

Competing legal interpretations and legitimate safety concerns — not “money and union jobs” as alleged by selectmen — are at the heart of a recent dispute involving construction of a large-scale solar farm on the town-owned Pine Street landfill, according to an alliance of electricians’ and inspectors’ groups that have united on this particular issue.

Aerial view of the Pine Street landfill

In a March 13 letter to the editor endorsed by five different organizations, Matthew Lash, assistant executive manager for the Greater Boston Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association, accuses Canton officials of turning a “public safety issue into a union issue” through its recent notice to residents, which Selectmen Chairman John Connolly read aloud at the board’s March 6 open meeting.

The 11-point notice, which is signed by Connolly, is itself a response to a recent mailing from the local electrical workers’ union, IBEW 103, which criticizes the town for allowing the “installation of electrical apparatus by non-licensed electricians in direct violation of Massachusetts law.”

The oversized postcard, which characterizes the project as a ticking time bomb, claims that selectmen allowed construction to commence without an electrical permit and that they refused to act when informed of the issue by the IBEW and “several dozen Canton residents.”

Visibly angered, Connolly said the mailing was “absolutely out of line” and apologized to residents for any “unnecessary safety concerns” that the IBEW may have caused.

Connolly went on to state that the project — which is being constructed by a private developer, Southern Sky Renewable Energy — is properly permitted and in compliance with all state law.

“Please consider the motive of the IBEW,” he added, reading from the letter. “We believe their involvement is solely motivated by money and union jobs and not as a result of any real concern for the safety of any Canton resident.”

However, according to Sean Callaghan, business agent for Local 103, while the union did indeed reach out to Canton officials in hopes of securing union jobs on the project, they did not send the mailing simply to scare residents or out of any kind of retribution.

“This is not a union issue for us; it’s a safety issue,” said Callaghan, adding that the solar arrays, if installed improperly, could “explode” due to the presence of methane gas under the landfill — a claim, it should be noted, that the Citizen was not able to substantiate.

Callaghan said the union’s main concern is with the installation of the metal racking system upon which the solar panels are mounted, which was performed by non-licensed workers at least five days before a wiring permit was issued. The problem, he said, is that state law (MGL Ch. 141 S. 1A) requires that every part of a structure that carries or uses electricity be installed by a state-licensed electrician — including photovoltaic systems, according to a recent ruling by the Board of State Examiners of Electricians.

This position is also shared by various electricians’ and inspectors’ associations, including the National Electrical Contractors Association, which asserts that the language of the state statute is “unambiguous.”

NECA works in partnership with the electrical workers’ unions; however, non-union groups, such as the Municipal Electrical Inspectors Association, have also taken up the cause on behalf of the electrical industry.

Bob Venuti, the secretary/treasurer of the inspectors association, stressed that with solar arrays, the “whole setup” has to be installed by a licensed electrician, adding that the racking system is the “grounding part,” and if the structure isn’t grounded properly, then “people can die.”

Callaghan has since filed a complaint against the developer with the Division of Professional Licensure, and a phone call placed to that office last Friday confirmed that the investigation was active. Callaghan said the IBEW has also asked the state to shut the project down “immediately,” although no action has been taken and construction is still ongoing.

As for the town’s role in the project, Connolly made it clear at the March 6 selectmen’s meeting that the solar farm is “not a town project.” He noted that the town engaged in a rigorous, public review of the developer’s proposal, culminating with an approval by residents at annual town meeting.

Regarding the permitting, the town has accepted Southern Sky’s position that the racking is not an electrical component and therefore falls under the building permit, which was issued by town Building Commissioner Ed Walsh on January 25. Walsh subsequently issued a wiring permit on February 7 to cover the installation of the panels themselves, which are being installed by state-licensed electricians.

Walsh said he sought guidance from the state Department of Public Safety about the racking installation after the IBEW got involved. He said the individual he spoke with at the state office verified that the town was acting “absolutely appropriately.”

“We at the Building Department would never compromise the life safety of any person in this town,” Walsh said. “We don’t work that way.”

Officials at Southern Sky, meanwhile, insist that the project is compliant with all state laws and applicable codes. In a statement emailed to the Citizen, the developer called the IBEW’s claims “inaccurate and untruthful” and insisted that the racking system is “not electrical in any way.”

“The Canton landfill solar project will produce significant revenue for the town of Canton and will achieve budget savings in the form of reduced costs for electricity, to the benefit of all Canton taxpayers,” the statement continued. “We are fully committed to the safety and success of this environmentally-conscious solar project.”

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