If you can enlarge the image, you will see a familiar Asbell name speaking his piece. Clint, Brandon, and Joshua attended the meetings.
I wrote a letter that was read during one meeting calling out our leadership for not making the necessary regulations to protect our community. Most cities/counties have those in place to protect their citizens' neighborhoods. Because we do not have them here, we have become a target. One meeting after my letter was read, our county announced it is now working to get those protections in place.
The company mentioned in the article has litigation pending against them for not keeping to their promises. That was brought up at the meetings. The panels they are saying are "safe" are actually only a bit "safer." They are not safe enough for such a fragile environment as wetlands and a state-registered wildlife habitat that has been devastated by past tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding.
Our community has land next to an industrial complex for a much larger facility, but for some reason, they wanted to put it right next to our neighbors' homes. It would not have been in view of our home, but it would have been surrounding other neighbors' homes. Those neighbors did research and learned the air over the panels creates so much heat that is carried by the wind that it would affect their comfort levels while working in their yards.
A check with realtors and actual people in other areas where these "farms" have been installed say the property values do decrease despite what the company claimed their research showed. The people who had them installed in their neighborhoods also shared that they did not get the price break on their power bills--not even once. Instead, their power bills went up by quite a bit!
Clint and I are not against alternative energy. In fact, we use panels ourselves. We just do not want a huge* "farm" of them stuck in the ground at flood level in such a fragile environment that is home to wildlife populations that are threatened. This is a very rural neighborhood, not an industrial complex. Please note they went from calling them "facilities" to "farms" to make them more palatable.
From the manufacturing to the disposal and the failed solar situation in California that is leading to rolling brown and blackouts, there is a lot left to improve in this type of technology. These ugly facilities that clash with a natural environment can easily be put on land adjoining industrial complexes.
Just so you know, Clint and I were on the fence about it until we did hours and hours of research. We dug deep. Then we went beyond what was on the internet to listening to actual people in communities where these have been built. Having been thoroughly educated over the last few months, we are firm on where we stand.
In this post, I didn't even touch on the "site abandonment" and a few other issues some communities have experienced. Beware! There is A LOT to know and to look out for before you lend your support to one of these types of projects.
*There were plans in place, which our neighbors uncovered, to greatly expand beyond what they told us.
