Author: Tree Hugger (Page 4 of 12)

Charlotte County: massive solar project deferred (for now)

April 29, 2022 / Tree Hugger

A massive 800-MW industrial solar project proposed in Charlotte County has been temporarily deferred. Key points from this article include:

An outside consulting firm recommended deferral until certain questions about the huge solar array can be resolved.
Yet another utility-scale solar project is on the table: a 220-MW project that would cover over 2,000 acres.
The developer, SolUnesco, claims that the project will bring in over $175 million in “labor income and economic output.” (However, consistent with other solar claims, the company fails to provide specific details on how that figure was calculated.)
One speaker questioned how wetlands, forests, and farmlands will be protected by the county, in light of large solar projects such as these.
County staff noted that the application would allow the developer to include lands of natural, scenic, agricultural, archaeological or historical significance within the project lines without additional review or approval by the Board.
The project violates the Charlotte County solar ordinance which calls for no more than 3% of the land area in a given 5-mile radius to be used for utility-scale solar projects.
The developer does not want to post a bond for decommissioning. (Decommissioning bonds are critical to ensure that the developer is held accountable for removing all panels and restoring the land; otherwise, all these costs fall on county taxpayers.)

DEQ issues new stormwater regs

April 28, 2022 / Tree Hugger

The Department of Environmental Quality issued new stormwater regs that limit the amount of runoff allowed by solar panels. Solar panels are impermeable surfaces that concentrate the flow of rainwater and lead to excessive runoff and flooding. This runoff flows into Virginia waterways and bays, including the Chesapeake Bay and the James River watershed, endangering plants and animals.

In addition to the dangers posed by impermeable solar panels, utility-scale solar project construction sites also produce far more runoff than cropland or forested land. DEQ estimates that large construction sites, such as utility-scale solar sites, will produce 200 times MORE stormwater runoff than agricultural land and 2,000 times MORE than forested land.

Look at this photo and you’ll see why:

Look at the land in between the solar panels, and you’ll see nothing but dirt and a few weeds. Rainwater flows from the panels onto the ground and then directly into our waterways.

Nottoway scraps solar ordinance

April 28, 2022 / Tree Hugger

Nottoway County is scrapping its solar energy ordinance and starting from scratch after residents voiced opposition to industrial-scale solar projects.

Here are a few excerpts from the article in the Courier-Record:

“First and foremost, the citizens don’t want it, and I work for them,” declared District Two Supervisor John Roark, whose motion to proceed with repealing passed, 5-0. “We must protect our prime wildlife areas and save our prime industrial sites for ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT — not solar.”

Officials have been increasingly concerned by stories of erosion and solar [project] fires in other Virginia counties.

Board Chair Lynn Shekleton cited troubling accounts in other counties of erosion, DEQ fines, heavy truck traffic damaging roads, and the fact that DEQ only recently amended its stormwater regulations to include water runoff from solar panels.

[Local resident Dicky] Ingram said the County needs to target and attract long-term, high-paying jobs, such as FASTC at Fort Pickett. “They’re good jobs, good-paying jobs, and they’re CLEAN jobs.”

Mrs. Scott said solar farms “will have a terrible impact on our land. Who owns these companies? Are they Chinese subsidiaries? Are they high political donors? When it comes to renewable companies, you must follow the money… What is in these panels? I think we’re all being extremely naive to think that it will not impact our soil, our rivers…

One of the newest voices publicly opposing industrial solar farms was Peggy Figlar, President of the Nottoway County Historical Society. She said there are many historical sites and graves within a 700-acre area — six miles SW of the courthouse — eyed for 400,000 solar panels by Northern Virginia based Solunesco. “I’m very concerned that our association wasn’t contacted… this ordinance needs to be revisited to include historically-significant sites and cemeteries.”

Read the full article here.

Charlotte County: massive solar project deferred (for now)

DEQ issues new stormwater regs

Nottoway scraps solar ordinance

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