More Details Needed About Caledon Solar Proposal, Commissioners Say
Applicant is urged to consider public input from the Gibson Solar/Open Road Renewables project, which the Board of Supervisors turned down last month.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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Members of the King George County Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended strongly that Caledon Solar, LLC take into account concerns raised by the community during public hearings for the last solar farm proposal to come before the county.
“I would take a look at a lot of the issues and concerns brought up with the previous solar project,” said James Monroe district representative Roger Kniceley. “We had them add quite a few things to their agreement in terms of stormwater management, in terms of conservation of the land after the end of the project.”
Knicely said that Gibson Solar, which earlier this year applied for a special exception permit to construct a 134-megawatt solar farm, added proffers that would have required chemical testing of the water and soil and that outlined specific construction methods as a result of public input.
The county Board of Supervisors denied the Gibson Solar project last month, citing worries about the effect on neighboring properties.
“This is a nice start,” Kniceley said Tuesday about Caledon Solar’s proposal, “but … I highly recommend you take a look at the other project and the level of detail they got into.”
Caledon Solar—which is owned by the renewable energy company TerraForm Power, previously SunTribe—is applying for a special exception permit to build a 22-megawatt solar farm on 120 acres off Caledon Road, next to Caledon State Park.
The site is located on a 1,431-acre parcel owned by Richard Stuart, a state senator and King George’s interim county attorney.
Tyler McGilvery, with TerraForm Power, told the Planning Commission on Tuesday that he has worked for over a decade to preserve family farms in Virginia by developing “well-sited solar projects.”
He said the project will connect to existing, underground transmission lines and that it will generate power for use by nearby residents and businesses, rather than being “shipped out of the county on a high-speed line.”
McGilvery estimated that the project will generate $300,000 per year in revenue for the county over its 40-year lifespan, in addition to a $550,000 one-time, up-front payment—$25,000 per megawatt—in the first year of operation.
The parcel has already been approved for oil or gas drilling, McGilvery said. If the special exception for the solar farm is approved, no other use would be permitted there, he said.
In response to a question from a commissioner, McGilvery said Caledon Solar has a 30-year lease, with the option of two five-year extensions, in place with the landowner, Stuart.
At the end of its operational life, the facility is required to be decommissioned and completely removed. McGilvery said the cost of the removal and decommissioning will be paid to the county upfront and held in a bond.
Commissioner Ian Fox, At Large, stressed to McGilvery that “the more you can distinguish the merits of this project, the better.”
“We’re all cognizant of the precedent we’re setting for the person who comes next,” Fox said. “The more you can distinguish the merits of the project, the easier it is to approve it, because we have a little ammunition to critique and contrast the next one.”
There will be public hearings before the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors on the Caledon Solar proposal at a later date.
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