In August 2018, South Coast Today reported that the Swansea Water District in Massachusetts had approved a solar agreement with ACE Solar (Alliance Clean Energy). A 1.5 MW array on a cleaned-up former junkyard on Vinnicum Road was expected to cut the district's power bill by $60,000 a year, around 20 percent. Board chairman James Hall wanted the solar power fed directly to the desalination plant behind its meter. ACE Solar said this would not pay off; after 20 years the district could assume ownership of the array.
The report showed that in 2018 power costs mattered even for water utilities running their own desalination plant, with solar power at first flowing through leases and bill credits rather than directly into plant operation.