Tour of Western Massachusetts Electric's Indian Orchard Solar Facility

On November 11, Professor Joe MacDougald, executive director of the Law School's Center for Energy and Environmental Law, led a group of UConn Law students to Western Massachusetts Electric's Indian Orchard Solar facility in Springfield, MA for a tour of the 12-acre former brownfield which was rehabilitated into a sparkling 2.2 megawatt solar power plant. The students learned, first hand, the challenges and incentives behind renewable power. The site was a complex example of where federal, regional, and state energy policy intersected with environmental law and local land use practices. The wide ranging discussion covered issues from the practical realities of running a solar site to the various economic incentives surrounding solar power including such an address of questions such as "How do the panels run during the snowy season?" to "How did the policies surrounding electrical infrastructure influence the design?". Many of the students in attendance were from the Law School's Environmental Law Society, recently renamed the Energy and Environmental Law Society.