The Lucerne Inn in Dedham, Maine is going greener and saving on its electric bill costs by signing up for Community Solar with Ampion. A landmark in the Bangor area, the 200-year-old inn will reduce its carbon footprint and electric costs by tapping into clean energy from a Community Solar farm in nearby Hermon. The Lucerne Inn’s enrollment in Community Solar comes just in time to help mitigate Maine’s rate hikes beginning in January 2022.

The News Center Maine team met with David Silverman, Innkeeper at the Lucerne Inn, and Nico Valette from Ampion’s Membership Engagement team, to film a news segment showcasing how Maine businesses and residents can take advantage of Community Solar.

“Through Ampion, the Lucerne Inn will save thousands on their annual electricity costs and gain access to large amounts of clean energy produced right here in Maine,” said Valette. “Community Solar is a unique cost savings and sustainability option for Maine utility customers of all sizes.”

Community Solar is a state-sponsored program enabling Central Maine Power and Versant customers to access clean energy without purchasing or installing solar panels. Community Solar subscribers are allocated a share of clean energy generated from an offsite solar farm. That energy works to offset the energy generation charges on their utility bills each month. In Maine, the subscriber receives a discount of up to 15% on their monthly electric costs.

For the Lucerne Inn, enrolling in Community Solar marks an important milestone. Innkeeper David Silverman told Ampion that he had looked into getting solar power for the inn, but wasn’t able to find a solution that made sense until he was approached by Ampion.

“We’ve looked into getting solar power, but there was no place to put the panels other than on the lawn we use for weddings and events,” Silverman said. “So many groups like Ampion have reached out to us about clean energy opportunities, but no one else has made the effort to come to the inn and shake my hand; Ampion is really special in that way.”

Ampion is helping commercial and residential Versant customers subscribe to clean energy from the Hermon Solar Farm. The inn’s subscription represents approximately 200,000 kWh of annual clean energy production from the Hermon Solar Farm, which amounts to about 16,000 gallons of gasoline consumed or approximately 3,600 trees grown for 10 years, according to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

“We’re so glad we found another way to support clean energy and make the Lucerne Inn more sustainable,” Silverman said.

The Hermon Solar Farm, owned by Summit Ridge Energy and developed by Cianbro, is completely constructed and will begin producing clean energy for the grid on behalf of its subscribers in early 2022. To learn more about the Hermon Solar Farm, check out these segments from News Center Maine and WABI TV!