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.)

Read the full article in SoVA Now here: Charlotte holds off on Randolph Solar as both sides speak out, SOVA Now, 27 Apr 2022, Susan Kate, Mecklenburg Sun

For more than five hours, members of the Charlotte County Planning Commission listened as the public shared their views about the 800-megawatt Randolph Solar Facility proposed for southeast Charlotte County.

Nearly 30 speakers gave their reasons for supporting or opposing the facility at a public hearing held April 18 at Randolph-Henry High School. If built, the Randolph Solar Project one of the largest solar energy generation facilities in the United States, encompassing more than 1.6 million photovoltaic panels.

After hearing from the speakers and reading aloud letters from another two dozen citizens, the Charlotte County Planning Commission voted 8-1 to defer a decision on whether to recommend the issuance of a conditional use permit for the project.

Kerwin Kunath was the only member of the Planning Commission to vote against deferral. W.V. Nichols, the representative from the Bacon/Saxe area, recused himself at the start of the meeting Tuesday night, citing a conflict of interest. SolUnesco, LLC, the developer of Randolph Solar, holds an option on land owned by Nichols.

The Randolph Solar project footprint is just over 21,000 acres, although only 3,050 will have solar panels installed. According to SolUnesco, the company has entered into 94 purchase option agreements with 148 landowners, encompassing 290 parcels and 21,071 acres of land in the Wylliesburg/Red Oak and Bacon/Saxe districts of Southeast Charlotte County.

The project area’s nearly 300 contiguous parcels equate to approximately seven percent of Charlotte County’s total land mass, though the area within the fence line, including the areas under panel, will span just over one percent of the county geography.

The Berkley Group, an outside consulting firm that performed the staff analysis on behalf of Charlotte County, recommended the planning commission delay a decision on the conditional use permit application until certain questions about the massive solar array are answered.

David Watkins, who represents the Charlotte Court House district, made the motion to defer a recommendation on the project, which would go to the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors for final action. He asked SolUnesco CEO Francis Hodsoll and Michael Zehner, Director of Environmental Programs with The Berkley Group, to work together to reach a compromise, if possible, on unresolved issues that would allow the project to move forward for a vote either up or down.

Planning commission members were expected to revisit the application during their regular meeting Tuesday. Information posted on the Charlotte County website explained, “Because Randolph and Tall Pines [a separate solar project seeking approval from the Planning Commission] are both complex projects that require significant staff time and Planning Commission focus and deliberation, the Planning Commission’s April 26th agenda includes deferral of discussion on Randolph Solar until Tuesday, May 3rd.”

The commission was set to move forward with a scheduled public hearing on the Tall Pines Solar application for a conditional use permit. Tall Pines is a 220-megawatt utility-scale solar energy system, proposed by NOVI Energy, on 2,072 acres, spread across three sites northeast of the Town of Charlotte Court House and east/southeast of Cullen.

NOVI Energy also developed a biomass-burning power plant in South Boston which provides power for Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC).

Speakers who addressed the commission in person at the April 19 Randolph Solar public hearing were equally divided in their support or opposition to the project. The number of letter writers who opposed the project as currently presented were more than twice the number of project supporters, according to commission member Miller Adams.

Among the speakers who supported the Randolph Solar project were landowners who are receiving income from SolUnesco because their property is under option for inclusion in the project footprint, and young people who said they hoped the income generated for the county from this project would bring new employment opportunities to the county.

Doug Garnett said Charlotte County is in dire need of money to provide services to citizens without raising taxes. Residents Megan Martinez and Derek Toombs said they were 100 percent in support of the project because without the money it would bring to the county, they said there was no future for young people or their children.

Martinez called the project, which developers estimated would bring in more than $175 million in labor income and economic output over the 35-year life of the project, “an ultra win.”

Several speakers at the Randolph Solar public hearing said they were not opposed to solar as an energy source, but felt the county was rushing to push the project through without studying its full impact. They wanted answers to questions such as what happens to damaged panels, how decommissioning of the project will occur and who will oversee it, how wetlands, forests and farmlands will be protected, and why are counties that were formally pro-solar now putting more stringent limits on these projects.

At least two speakers asked the planning commission to call for a moratorium on all future solar development to conduct further study. They were supported by former members of the Board of Supervisors Donna Fore and Kay Pierantoni, who called on current county supervisors and planning commission members to do the right thing for the county and postpone a decision on the project.

Speakers opposing the project and some who said they were on the fence about solar in general said they objected to the size and scope of Randolph Solar, noting it would take away from the county’s designation as a “garden spot.” Others worried about the impact the utility-scale solar facility would have on the environment.

P.K. Pettus said it is possible to promote solar energy and protect wetlands, forests and farmlands, but it needs to be done thoughtfully and after study — something which she said the members of the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission have not done.

Hodsoll countered her remarks and those of others calling for more study by noting Charlotte County has been studying the Randolph Solar project for nearly a year, since SolUnesco first applied for a conditional use permit (CUP) in June 2021.

Melvin Newcomb admonished landowners who were benefiting from the project without thinking about how it might be hurting their neighbors. “It should not bother other people,” he said, after noting that the current design for Randolph Solar would encircle his farm in panels.

The major points of contention, from the staff’s perspective according to Zehner, involved language in the SolUnesco application that would potentially allow SolUnesco to include lands of natural, scenic, agricultural, archaeological or historic significance within the project fence line.

Zehner said he would not recommend the commission agree to this, or the additional suggestion from SolUnesco seeking the right to expand the project’s 3,050 footprint by as much as 20 percent without additional review or approval by either the Board of Supervisors or the Planning Commission. Based upon calculations provided by SolUnesco, the Randolph Solar project 3,050 acres encompass upwards of 5.6 percent (5.6%) of the land area within a given five-mile radius. Charlotte County’s zoning ordinance calls for “no more than three percent (3%) of the land area in any given five-mile radius to be used for utility-scale solar energy systems.

Several members of the Planning Commission said they hesitated to accept SolUnesco’s request to forego posting a surety bond for decommissioning. Zehner was asked if any other locality had agreed to this condition. Zehner replied he was aware of none.

Commissioner Jim Benn sought greater detail from SolUnesco about their plans for managing soil, erosion and water runoff.

Cornell “Brick” Goldman initially asked the commission to recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve SolUnesco’s application for a conditional use permit. His motion was seconded by Kerwin Kunath. Goldman subsequently withdrew his motion after Miller Adams asked the board why they were ignoring the request of citizens — both the ones who spoke in person Tuesday night and those who sent in letters — who asked the commission to pause.

Commission Chair Andrew “Andy” Carwile attempted to achieve a consensus among members of the planning board on a variety of issues — size, decommissioning, etc. — telling the commissioners they had a limited window within which to vote up or down on the application. State law gives the planning commission 100 days to recommend an application for a solar conditional use permit be denied, otherwise it is deemed to be approved and sent to the Board of Supervisors for final review and vote.

For now, the fate of Randolph Solar is up in the air. A decision on whether to recommend the project to supervisors will likely occur on May 3 when the Planning Commission next meets.