Situation
In 2018, Bedford County and Bedford Borough entered contractual agreements with RER Energy, based in Reading, PA, to develop municipal solar power installations with taxpayer assistance from the State of Pennsylvania. Both projects failed spectacularly without producing a single watt of power, but not until something close to $1.6 million was squandered. It remains unclear whether Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) was ever reimbursed for the funds it fronted to RER Energy for either project.
The projects were doomed from the start. The business plans were based on pricing concocted by RER Energy that would have forced Bedford Rural Electric Co-op to pay near-retail prices for energy generated by the solar arrays, which it was under no lawful obligation to do. The arrangement also would have left RER Energy, rather than the local governments, owning the solar panels unless taxpayers ponied up money later to buy them.
The Watchdog sent detailed record requests on the projects to both the County and the Borough. The County — after lying to the Altoona Mirror about the status of the project — did its best to stonewall the request. The Borough, to its credit, was more forthcoming and respectful of the transparency laws — although it too initially threw up some roadblocks, at least until they realized the Watchdog was fully capable of enforcing compliance. The Borough response is reasonably complete, although far more clarity is still required on precisely how it was convinced to sign on to such an ill-conceived venture, whether CFA was ever reimbursed, and what ultimately happened to the panels that were purchased.
Complaint Received
In April 2022 the watchdog received a complaint that thousands of uninstalled solar panels had been left corroding in a field next to the Bedford County Correctional Facility. Upon investigation, the Watchdog found the panels stacked haphazardly in the brush, with a few tell-tale voids indicating pilferage. They had been sitting there since at least December 2018. These were purchased with state money for the County project. The Watchdog then learned that a similar project had been launched under the auspices of Bedford Borough next to the municipal water treatment plant. Upon inspection, the Watchdog found that a barrier had been erected to protect the site from prying eyes.
Request Made (08/12/2022)
The Watchdog emailed its request on August 12, 2022. On August 16, 2022, Borough Secretary Beverly Geller replied that that the request had been received, but insisted that we also submit the Borough’s standard RTK request form. This is non-statutory, as the Watchdog request was drafted in full compliance with the law, but we nonetheless complied. Watchdog Public Affairs Officer Bryan King emailed the form to Ms. Geller on August 17, 2022, cc’ing it to the general Bedford Borough email address as well as Watchdog staff.
Interaction with Beverly Geller, Bedford Borough Secretary
Normally municipalities will invoke a 30-day extension when they receive a detailed request. Bedford Borough did not do so, something the Watchdog overlooked. When we contacted Ms. Geller on September 22, 2022, she claimed never to have received the form, for which there is a clear email record. The Watchdog then wrote Ms. Geller, cc’ing Borough attorneys Koontz & Crabtree, informing her that whether or not the form was received (the email record is quite clear that it had to have been), our initial request was lawful and correct, and that non-compliance would result in an appeal to the Office of Open Records. Then, with rather impressive speed, Ms. Geller complied with the request by the end of the day.
Record Response
GES/Bedford 57 Project Proposal/Grant Application Documents: Exhibits 1-15. Exhibits 5 and 13, as labelled by the Borough and GES, were not provided in responsive records.
Bedford Borough Council Minutes
Bedford Borough Council Workshop Minutes
Bedford Borough Water Authority Minutes
Municipal Authority of the Borough of Bedford (MABB) Minutes:
