To the editor:

The recent Alex Fox letter from CVE North America required 800 words to say that the proposed Drift Road solar project was good for Westport and its citizens. Let’s see if I can improve upon that.

As a resident on Drift Road, my cost of electric power from Eversource is $0.223 per KwHr. This is 35% above the Mass state average of $.165, which is the 47th highest nationally. The high cost of electric power is the precise reason why CVE North America wants to locate their solar facility in Westport. Their high costs are almost competitive here.

Photovoltaic solar power, on average, costs $.125 per KwHr to produce. Adding in $0.1266 for distribution, transmission, energy efficiency subsidies, and other expenses charged by Eversource, CVE NA energy will cost $0.2516. This is certainly not good for Westport. The limited number of homes that would benefit from local solar has already been discussed before the planning board. It was a small number.

Since the above word count is only 161, I’ll offer the following additional detail — PV solar is not an efficient use of land. The Drift Road facility will produce only 0.13 MW per acre of facility area. A modern 400 MW combined gas/steam turbine facility would produce at 32MW per acre, and at a unit cost 42% lower than PV Solar based on average costs for each source.

The CVE North America project proposed for Drift Road provides no economic benefits for Westport, and should be terminated.

Elliot F. Whipple

Westpo