McCormick & Co. Inc. added a little spice to its energy mix, unveiling 2,100 solar panels mounted on its Spice Mill and Distribution Center in Hunt Valley.
But that array is one of just a handful to be built in recent months, with a weak economy and misconceptions about the cost of such projects causing firms to cool on the idea of solar power.
“We have seen a slight slowdown in pursuit of the solar projects now, primarily due to financing,” said Greg Jarosinski, president of Constellation Energy’s Projects and Services Group, which built and will operate the McCormick array, the largest it has constructed in Maryland. “Financing has hit every line of business, but hit solar particularly hard.”
But Jarosinski said those concerns over financing are inaccurate — for many projects, the actual capital cost to the company is low. Constellation will bear the cost of building and operating the McCormick project, and sell electricity generated back to McCormick.
“It’s a part of our overall sustainability program,” said Alan Wilson, McCormick president and chief executive officer. “This was a way to send a tangible message not only to our employees but to our community, that this is important to us.”
At least one other Baltimore business has plans to install solar panels. GM Powertrain’s Baltimore Transmission Plant in White Marsh in August contracted SunEdison of Beltsville to build an 8,700-panel system that would provide 20 percent of the facility’s electricity needs. The system is expected to come online in the third quarter of this year.
“We look at Maryland as one of the better solar markets,” said Martha Duggan, vice president of government affairs for SunEdison.
