If the solar energy farm is inactive, completely or substantially discontinuing the delivery of electricity to an electrical grid for a continuous 30 day period, excepting for items outside of control of the Project, or longer as approved by the Zoning Administrator in consultation with other agencies with submittal of requested documentation from the applicant or project owner, as needed; it shall be considered abandoned. (…) The applicant or current project owner shall remove the facilities (“decommissioning”) within six (6) months of receipt of notice from the County. If the facility is not removed within the specified time after the County Notice, the County may cause the removal of the solar energy farm with costs being borne by the Project Owner.

(…) Decommissioning activities are expected to take between 6–8 months.

louisa county, board of supervisor minutes, 6 mar 2017, belcher solar llc, packet p 52, 152

The process for determining whether a solar project has been “abandoned” are more complicated and time-consuming than one might think. The project owner is supposed to notify the County if the project is being shut down, but the details on how the county or town enforces that notification are generally missing. If officials must take legal action against the developer and/or property owner, the process to even begin decommissioning can take much longer than anticipated. And while this agreement for Louisa County considers the project to be abandoned after 6 months, other Virginia counties allow projects to remain inactive for up to 24 months (2 years) before beginning the process to enforce the decommissioning agreement.

Potential questions to consider:

  1. What are the penalties for a solar company if it does not notify officials that its solar project is being abandoned or closed?
  2. What is the county or town process for “causing the removal of the solar energy farm” if a project owner doesn’t begin the work in a timely fashion or fails to respond to county notifications?
  3. How long does the county or town estimate it would take to complete the legal action needed to compel compliance?
  4. What legal recourse does the county or town have if the developer fails to remove all project materials within the time stated in the agreement?

See also: