Project approved in 2021 before solar moratorium; residents voice concerns at Wednesday meeting
The construction of the Henderson County Solar project is scheduled to begin in June, months after its original start date, a delay that came after project officials went before the state Public Service Commission to keep its construction certificate intact.
In an April 30 order, the PSC found that Stellar Renewables, which now owns the project, violated a December 2021 final order.
The violation specifically involved a failure to notify the PSC of the transfer of ownership of the project and obtain approval of the previous owner’s construction certificate, according to the April 30 order.
That led to a March hearing. After the hearing, the PSC, however, did not revoke the construction certificate but did impose mitigation measures Stellar must follow. One of the eight measures the PSC imposed on Stellar was to hold a public informational meeting, which occurred Wednesday night at the Henderson County Public Library.
The project, which totals about 421 acres, the majority of it south of Ky. 425 with a smaller tract north of the roadway, will provide about 20% of Henderson Municipal Power & Light’s energy needs in a year’s time, said General Manager Brad Bickett on Wednesday.
It also includes locked-in prices as a part of the contract with Stellar, which will keep the price of the energy supplied to the customer from the solar farm at the same rate for the duration of the 20-year contract, Bickett said. Additionally, all the energy gathered will be transferred directly onto HMP&L’s electrical system, and the energy will be used for HMP&L customers, Bickett said.
The site plan was approved by local officials in 2021, so it came before the current solar moratorium was in place. Project approval was also in place before a proposed solar cap, which is currently with the Henderson City-County Planning Commission and has not yet been given a final vote from the Henderson Fiscal Court. (That proposal aims to cap the number of acres under solar panels in the county at 6,050.)
Like other renewable energy projects in Henderson County currently, the Henderson County Solar project is not without concerns coming from residents. At the informational session Wednesday night, several displays with maps and graphics were set up with Stellar representatives on hand to answer individual questions.
One concern was the location of pollinators, currently planned to be placed near the tract of land in the project north of 425. Rachel Bray, who lives nearby, said the pollinator should be located on land off of U.S. 41-A in an area where they can be more effective.
Bray was also concerned about training for local volunteer fire departments to deal with fires that might occur at the solar farm. Some voiced concerns about the possibility of fires involving solar panels, like one that occurred off Ky. 1299 in September. She said Stellar reps told her the company would meet with Cairo Fire Department before the solar farm is operational.
Another nearby resident, Anita Villines, has concerns about noise coming from Pratt Paper plant and the sound being amplified by bouncing off the solar panels that will sit between her residence and the plant. She said her home will be 1,300 feet from a solar field when the project is complete.
She said the sound is already a nuisance to her, as was detailed in a previous Hendersonian article. She asked about the possibility of noise amplification Wednesday night, and Stellar reps told her they did not know the answer, she said.
Deirdre McConathy, who has been a local leader in voicing concerns about renewable energy projects in the county, told Stellar reps that they need to do a better job of communicating with the public and being responsive to the community’s concerns than the companies in charge of the solar farms in Robards have been.
There were also concerns about vegetative buffering, and Stellar reps said that tree lines currently in place will remain and allow for much of the screening on the project. They did say they were going to take extra steps in providing buffering along Lovers Lane, and that would require working with specialists to ensure the buffering was sound.
Bickett said the final site plan for the facility was submitted to the PSC on May 15, which allows June 15 to be the construction start date. He said it is planned to be operational by June 1, 2027.
He said the energy gathered from the solar fields will be transferred to HMP&L’s substation #7 on South Green Street and from there onto the electrical system.
To read the PSC’s April 30 order, click here.
