GREENSBORO — Peter and Sandy Gebbie’s Maplehurst Farm has been awarded a $91,395 grant to install a 67.2 kilowatt (kW) direct current (DC), roof-mounted solar array on a new storage shed in Greensboro.
In 2012, the Gebbie’s converted from a dairy farm to raising beef cattle and installed a methane digester to be more environmentally friendly. The new shed’s rooftop will be transformed into an economically and environmentally beneficial, energy generating asset expected to produce 77,315 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, that will offset 88 percent of the farm’s energy usage and save over $15,000 annually, noted Sen. Peter Welch in an October 4 press release.
By building the single slant roof shed, the farm will end up with covered storage for farm equipment that wouldn’t be possible with the usual supports built for solar panels, said Peter Gebbie.
The announcement from Sen. Welch, chair of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy, came as he celebrated the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) announcement awarding more than $2.1 million to support Vermont renewable energy projects and help lower energy costs for rural farmers and small businesses. USDA’s investment in Vermont through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) will create over $2 million in energy generation by funding the installation of new roof-mounted solar panels and retrofitting buildings to capture heat waste. The projects will increase the amount of energy generated by 93,499,773 kilowatt hours (kWh), enough to power over 8,500 homes.
A potato cutter, on the lawn at Peter and Sandy Gebbie’s Maplehurst Farm in Greensboro in 2017, was once used to cut potatoes for seed. The farm was a potato farm before becoming a dairy farm, then converted to raising beef cattle in 2012.
These projects are partially funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, which Senator Welch helped pass in 2022. The REAP program provides guaranteed loan financing and grants to farmers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements. Farms could apply for funding to buy more efficient processing equipment, weatherize a barn, or install solar panels on their land.
“Vermont’s farmers and small businesses are on the front lines in the fight against climate change. With the Inflation Reduction Act, we made historic investments to lower energy costs for our agricultural producers and boost renewable energy production. These new investments will be game-changing in our work to achieve a clean energy economy that works for everyone,” said Sen. Welch. “I’m pleased to see the positive impact of this law reaching agricultural producers and small business owners in rural communities across Vermont.”
The farm now raises beef cattle, feeds heifers for other farms and produces feed for others. Peter Gebbie says he has been trying to retire for nine years, but hasn’t found a way to do it. Maplehurst Farm isn’t for sale now, but he says they’re looking for others who’d like to take on most of the work there in some way.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
