Harvest Solar pitches commercial and behind‑the‑meter options to Ogemaw County

Representatives from Harvest Solar told the Ogemaw County Board of Commissioners that behind‑the‑meter and commercial solar installations can reduce local government and business energy bills without taking productive farmland out of production. Jeff Schultz, who said he lives in Bay County and represents Harvest Solar, introduced the company and its focus on farms and commercial customers as an alternative to utility‑scale solar farms.

Schultz said Harvest Solar grew from serving farms into commercial and industrial projects and described a range of project structures that can require little or no upfront capital from the host. "And every kilowatt hour that it makes, it saves you, let's say, just for example, it saves you 15¢ and you pay me for that, let's say, 14¢," a company representative explained, describing a power‑purchase agreement (PPA) model that transfers installation cost and ownership to the provider while delivering predictable energy savings to the customer.

Commissioners and residents pressed the presenters on site‑suitability, emergency‑response risks, decommissioning and the life span of equipment. The presenters said modern panels typically last 30+ years and that hail damage is rare; they recommended zoning measures such as decommissioning bonds to ensure a dismantled or abandoned array will be removed if an operator fails. "If the array is not operating for x number of months or years, then, you know, we're holding this decommissioning bond," the presenter said.

The company also summarized federal incentives: for tax‑paying businesses, a roughly 40% federal tax credit can offset project cost, and a direct‑pay option can make the benefit available to municipalities and nonprofits. Harvest Solar offered to provide follow‑up engineering and cost estimates for county facilities and noted state resources that can assist with processing incentive paperwork.

The presentation concluded with commissioners asking staff to evaluate options for county rooftops and municipal properties; attendees and several board members emphasized preserving farmland from utility‑scale conversions while exploring municipal and commercial installations to reduce operating costs.