On Wednesday, the Dauphin County Industrial Development Authority approved the $1.94 million sale of its solar farm.
Coral Reef Partners, a solar firm based in Hershey, was the only bidder on the project. Citing a nondisclosure agreement with the IDA, Corey Wolff, president and CEO of Coral Reef Partners, declined to comment on the project until the sale was completed.
Additionally, the IDA refused to discuss the specifics of the transaction or provide a copy of the sale agreement until the deal is concluded, which has not yet been set, although IDA leadership stated that it plans to proceed swiftly.
The $1.8 million that the IDA still owes on the project will be barely covered by the sale’s proceeds.
In response to a question concerning Wolff’s nondisclosure agreement, IDA Solicitor LaToya Bellamy stated that confidentiality agreements are standard procedure for sales of that magnitude due to the constant possibility that the deal may not be finalized.
However, Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, stated that because the nondisclosure agreement restricts speech on subjects of public interest, it violates the First Amendment.
We’re dealing with a government entity, even though that might be standard procedure for non-government organizations, Melewsky stated.
The solar farm has been losing money for years and has recently come under fire for its personal ties to two county officials, former commissioner Jeff Haste and Coroner Graham Hetrick. The solar farm was first unveiled in 2011 and was initially hailed by county leaders as a cost-saving measure that would benefit taxpayers.
According to PennLive’s calculations, the solar farm’s operating losses between 2018 and 2023 were $2.9 million, while the IDA was unable to verify this figure.
Bellamy previously responded that the annual debt payments and operating expenses of the solar farm outweigh its income when questioned why it has been so unprofitable.
The state of the market is at least somewhat to blame for that. The cost of solar energy per kilowatt-hour and the value of solar renewable energy credits determine the solar farm’s earnings. Over the past ten years, the value of solar renewable energy credits in Pennsylvania has drastically decreased due to state laws and rising supply.
Over the previous 15 years, the IDA has contributed about $9 million in public funds to the project.
Aspects of the solar farm’s history have come under scrutiny as the IDA has attempted to sell it.
When the solar farm project began, Haste, the former county commissioner who helped get it started and approved millions of public monies to build it, was residing on the property in a rented house owned by coroner Hetrick. In 2010, Hetrick and his family members sold the site to the IDA for more than $200K.
Bill Napikoski, a friend from high school, was hired to oversee the solar farm’s project management, despite the fact that his records show he had no prior solar farm experience. According to documents, Napikoski started construction on the project site prior to the IDA’s acquisition of the land and the formal formation of his business, Mid-Atlantic Green Builders. Although Bellamy stated at Wednesday’s meeting that the contract will probably be canceled once the sale is completed, the business has earned close to $2 million in what appear to be no-bid contracts for work on the solar farm and continues to be hired by the IDA to maintain it.
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Stories by
Juliette Rihl
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