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Solar developer hauls in $4.3 million in tax credits: Did he have unfair advantage?

David Blittersdorf

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MONTPELIER – A vast majority of the solar tax credits award by the state of Vermont last month went to a renewable energy developer who was once a member of the board deciding how to allocate the funds.

Companies founded by, and linked to, Burlington renewable energy developer David Blittersdorf received $4.3 million in tax credits for solar projects across the state of Vermont. The total pool of available tax credits was about $7 million.

Blittersdorf resigned from the Vermont Clean Energy Development Board, which decided how to spend the state money, earlier this summer before the award decision was made.

The Vermont Attorney General's Office has said no conflict of interest laws were violated.

“People are going to say I have a conflict,” Blittersdorf said Tuesday. “But the only conflict I have is that I have been incredibly successful in figuring out what was in the law.”

The largest project funded is a $12 million solar farm in South Burlington. The project, funded by Blittersdorf's Earth NRG Services LLC., envisions nearly 400 solar panel trackers – devices that follow the sun's movements throughout the day to maximize exposure – in a field along Vermont 116.

That project, which is expected to produce enough power for about 500 homes, received $3.5 million in tax credits.

Blittersdorf joined the Clean Energy Board in August 2009 when Vermont was already offering solar tax credits. He said his expertise in the renewable energy field was a boost for the board, which he said was funding “some pretty crazy things.”

Lawmakers changed the program during the Legislative session earlier this year, capping the total amount of tax credits available to $9.4 million. That number dropped by another $2 million due to a bill-drafting error as those funds were allocated for an unrelated renewable energy project in Bennington.

Blittersdorf said he was on vacation out of state when lawmakers made the decision to cap the credits in May. Once he realized there would be lots of competition – the board received requests totaling $28 million – he stepped down.

“I didn't see anyone try to use their position with the board to manage or affect how this would play out,” said Andrew Perchlik, the clean energy fund manager.

But Tom Evslin, the chief technology officer for the state of Vermont and a member of the Clean Energy Fund Board, said he has two main concerns: That the decision on which projects to fund was not based on energy prices and that board members with projects up for consideration got an inside track on information.

One other member of the board, Robert Dostis, excused himself from the deliberations over how to allocate the tax credits. Dostis, a former lawmaker, is now an executive with Green Mountain Power, a utility that received about $500,000 for two projects.

Evslin tried unsuccessfully to convince his fellow board members last month that the projects should be funded based on which ones produce less expensive power; instead the board decided to use a first-come, first-serve approach based on which projects were farther ahead in development.

“From an economic point of view, it made sense to fund the tax credits for projects that would have had the least impact on ratepayers,” Evslin said, pointing out that some of the projects will get as high as 30 cents per kilowatt hour for the energy they produce.

Evslin said he is not accusing Blittersdorf or Dostis of anything improper, but said the fact that current and former board members got the lion's share of credits creates the impression that there is a severe conflict of interest.

“This appearance will make people extra suspicious of state support for renewable energy,” Evslin said. “When it appears that some people could have had an inside track on information, it casts the whole process in doubt.”

Despite the political controversy – and the difficulty in determining how to allocate the tax credits – Perchlik said he believes the assistance will make a dramatic impact across the state. He cited Blittersdorf's solar trackers – a new design on an older technology – as especially exciting in Vermont.

“I could see these trackers becoming very popular across the country, putting his company in a position where it could quickly grow and hire more Vermonters,” he said.

Blittersdorf said the solar tracking panels have been around for more than a decade, but his new designs maximize the amount of solar energy collected by the panels. He said his designs capture 10-15 percent more energy than other tracker panels on the market.

“We've been testing them out here in Vermont,” Blittersdorf said. “The next step is to start selling them across the country.”

Companies that didn't get the solar tax credits may still have another bite at the apple. Lawmakers are optimistic they can find the additional $1.9 million for the fund early in 2011 and the Board allocated $500,000 of the original $7.5 million for projects that were not aware of the early deadline this spring to apply.

Applications for the second round of tax credits are due Oct. 15 and details can be found at the Board's website at http://publicservice.vermont.gov/energy/ee_cleanenergyfund.html

Among the other projects funded with solar tax credits was the Addison Solar Farm, an array of nearly 200 solar panels on eight acres of land in Ferrisburg. That $6 million project got about $1.8 million in tax credits and is estimated to produce about 1.2 million kilowatts of energy per year.

Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com


Local projects:



Location Company Energy (KW) Tax credit



East Montpelier Earth NRG Services 7.6 $18,600

Waterbury Earth NRG Services 3.8 $9,300

Berlin Benoit Properties 21 $56,199

Berlin GMP 189 $390,000

Montpelier GMP 122.9 $165,000

Waterbury Center Earth NRG Services 12.5 $27,900

Benson Earth NRG Services 3.8 $9,300

Starksboro Earth NRG Services 3.8 $9,300

Starksboro Earth NRG Services 19 $46,500

Bristol Earth NRG Services 2.9 $7,050

Monkton Earth NRG Services 3.8 $9,300