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Neighbors hope to shed more light on solar projects
McCOOK, Neb. — A group hopes to apply more sunshine to local solar farm proposals they say have been operating in the dark.
About 50 neighbors and concerned citizens turned out Wednesday night to collect concerns and questions they want to be answered before permits are issued for facilities proposed by Premier Energy and McCook Solar northwest of McCook.
Meeting organizer Todd Cappel said he’s uneasy about tactics being used by the companies, which include doubling lease offers when landowners hesitate and leaving other concerns unanswered.
Incoming County Commissioner Ted Gans, who attended with Charles Fritsche, the other new commissioner, went further, saying large companies tend to “bedazzle you with (BS), then buy you, then bully you” when pushing such projects through.
A landowner in the audience said he recently received a letter that threatened the use of eminent domain, which the private companies actually don’t have.
The Nebraska Public Power District could use eminent domain, but NPPD insists it has no interest in a solar plant nor need for the power “at this time.”
Other questions raised included the effect on property values for adjoining property, health hazards created by electromagnetic fields around solar farms, noise from transformers and the large battery installations proposed, and higher ambient temperatures around solar farms — as much as 10 degrees, according to one study.
Another concern is the clean-up after the facility stops being used — an expense supposedly covered by a bond in the landowner’s name, but according to Gans, might be more properly covered by an escrow account of as much as $50 million in case the solar farms are sold to new owners.
There is no way to effectively recycle solar panels, audience members contended, and they wind up in landfills.
Grassfires are another concern, with firefighters questioning the types of hazardous materials that might be generated by batteries in case of a fire — no one seemed to know what type of batteries they will be — and the impossibility of fighting a grassfire inside the fence surrounding the proposed 1,000-acre solar farm.
Others questioned whether the two solar projects were actually in competition with each other, or might have backing in common. And, while they’ve indicated plans to tap into the power grid at a substation along North U.S. 83, there’s a major power line to the west which might help feed power to the Southwest Power Pool, which used electricity from McCook’s turbine-powered “peaking unit” during a major Texas power outage in 2021.
Despite company contentions that NPPD would pay in lieu of taxes on the property should it eventually own the solar farm, questions were raised about a property tax impact. Gans also raised questions about how much money Red Willow County would actually receive from taxes on the energy produced.
He also questioned the timing of the conditional use permit Premier Energy planned to submit, coming at a time when two commissioners were leaving the county board and two taking office.
While no such application has been submitted, when it is, the county zoning board will have 20 days to approve or deny it, and submit it to the county commissioners.
Those with concerns were urged to contact members of the county zoning commission with those concerns. Their names, numbers and email addresses can be found on the county website.
Cappel said he was not opposed to alternative energy, and plans to install a wind turbine to supplement power for his business, taking advantage of government incentives. That would help offset his business’s electrical energy use, which has quadrupled over the past decade.
But he said he’s concerned about a project that pits neighbor against neighbor and wants to preserve a way of life on property he purchased from his parents.
“We live here for a reason, and it’s not the money,” Cappel said.