The Henderson County Fiscal Court Tuesday unanimously approved a 2-year moratorium on new solar energy installations.
All magistrates present approved the text amendment to the current zoning ordinance for solar energy systems that prevents the “filing, processing, review and acceptance of all applications” for Level 2 SES installations—large scale installations—by county governmental bodies.
Leading up to the start of the process to approve the moratorium, residents in the Robards area complained that the construction of two large-scale installations was negatively affecting the aesthetics of the land and their quality of life.
The approval comes after the Fiscal Court in November passed a resolution to send the proposed moratorium to the Henderson City-County Joint Planning Commission for that body to make a recommendation. Subsequently, the joint planning commission on Jan. 7 approved a recommendation for the Fiscal Court to impose the 2-year moratorium.
National Grid Renewables is developing its 1,500-acre Unbridled Solar Project immediately south of Robards. It will include 400,000 solar panels, according to the company. NextEra Energy Resource’s two-phase Sebree Solar project will encompass 2,100 acres just to the north and west of Robards.
The moratorium won’t have any effect on those installations currently being constructed because they were already underway before the Fiscal Court passed its resolution.
It also wouldn’t affect a solar farm planned by Henderson Municipal Power & Light, which will be built by Stellar Renewable Power and will encompass 292 fenced acres near Ky. 425, said HMP&L General Manager Brad Bickett. HMP&L has submitted documents for the project and has site plan approval, Bickett said.
Another project in eastern Henderson County, however, will be put on hold, at least at the county level. Officials pursuing the Rock Bluff Energy Park, a project comprising 14,000 acres of former strip-mining land, had not yet filed any paperwork for the project before the Fiscal Court’s resolution in November.
The intent of the moratorium, according to the language in the amendment and Schneider, is to pause any new construction and study the effects of the two large installations being constructed.
Schneider has previously said that the purpose of the moratorium was to monitor the effects of the current solar farms on the area, including drainage, road glare and the effectiveness of vegetative buffers (trees) that will take time to grow.
In a prepared statement sent to the Hendersonian days after the Fiscal Court’s preliminary approval of the solar moratorium on Jan. 28, the CEO of Cordelio Power said moratoriums are part of the current business landscape.
“Moratoriums are a frequent part of doing business across the US, where communities take time to consider all of the benefits and considerations of permitting projects to be built in the county,” John Carson said. “We respect the Henderson County action 100% and will remain compliant with all provisions of the moratorium. We believe that, over the course of time, the community will want to permit the project and realize the huge amount of economic benefits for the community.”
