Solar farm in Kings Park to power 1,000 homes

NextEra Energy Resources LLC, Long Island Power Authority and PSEG Long Island last Thursday formally celebrated the launch of the Kings Park Solar Project, a 4-megawatt renewable energy facility on Old Northport Road. The official opening of the solar farm — which features 18,360 panels — came the same day the state Assembly passed a landmark climate bill calling for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. “I think New York is at a critical time in its history,” NextEra spokesman Bryan Garner said. “The state has had really ambitious renewable energy goals, and this is clearly a step in the right direction.” “This solar farm is what hope and optimism look like for our future,” Adrienne Esposito, executive director of the nonprofit Citizens Campaign for the Environment, said. “We know over the next 20 years, the sun will shine, the power will be produced and we will have clean power. We don’t know, and we may not want to know, the cost of fossil fuels.” The farm was initially purchased by BQ Energy and sold to NextEra when construction was completed in late 2018. BQ Energy managing director Paul Curran described BQ Energy as a development company that finds and builds sites, while NextEra focuses more on operations.