Oakland, Vassalboro solar projects flip the on switch

MORNING SENTINEL • January 21, 2021

The Oakland landfill turned butterfly feeding ground is now an operational 497,000-kilowatt solar array, which was turned on during the last week of December by Sundog Solar. The town is expected to save nearly $1 million in power costs over the next two decades. “There’s really no other good use for a covered landfill,” Oakland Code Enforcement Officer Dave Savage said. “We repurposed land that can’t be used for anything else.” The 1,096-panel solar array has been built over Oakland’s capped landfill. It was built to provide power to sewer pumps, municipal buildings and grounds crew garages.