Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is hoping to cut its electric bill with a major solar power installation set for spring.
The Waterbury-based company plans to put 530 solar panels on top of its distribution center in a partnership with Green Mountain Power Corp., and White River Junction-based groSolar.
The project is expected to produce electricity equivalent to what it takes to run 16 houses year-round.
Paul Comey, the coffee roaster’s vice president of environmental affairs, says the company sometimes draws up to a megawatt of electricity. The solar project is expected to offset about a 10th of that peak load.
The project is getting helped along by a $250,000 grant from the state’s Clean Energy Development Fund.