NABB, Ind — Property owners and supporters of renewable energy in Jefferson County, Ind. are trying to show there is support for industrial solar in their area.
"We are not the loud group, but we can show that we can do it without being loud," Kerri Vaughn said, a property owner who's signed a lease with Orion Renewables out of Oakland, Ca.
Orion is the developer of the Idlewild Solar Project that is planned to go on 2,050 acres of land in Jefferson County, right up against the Clark County line. Many landowners have already signed leases, but Orion needs a positive vote from the Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 1.
"It's going to help my farm. I'm not quitting farming, I'm subsidizing I guess you'd say," Gary Goode said, who farms corn and soybeans, and also owns a trucking company. "It's good for the environment. Solar panels, I don't believe, are gonna hurt the environment."
Goode hosted about 50 people on his farm Thursday to eat barbeque, listen to songs with sun-themed lyrics, and sign a petition they plan to turn into the Board of Zoning Appeals.
While driving to Goode's farm along State Road 62, you will see many yard signs against the project. On Sept. 3, the Madison Indiana City Council denied a 1,000-acre solar farm that Aypa Power was trying to build.
"It's gonna lower property values. That's been proven. Now, they say 3-7% in the county, I'd really like to know for people that live right up against a solar farm," Jim Dicken said, who runs a small farm in New Washington in Clark County.
Dicken believed Orion was trying to pursue a project in Clark County as well. When asked about this Thursday, a spokesperson for Orion said, "We're focused on this project (Idlewild Solar) right now."
Dicken said we should preserve the farmland we have for farming, and he's also worried about the movement of deer and turkeys if Orion fences off 2,050 acres.
"That's gonna cut the animals off from their traditional movements," he said.
Goode has been farming for 55 years. He said he "can't do it forever" and with corn and bean prices their lowest since before the pandemic, he said it makes sense for him to sign a lease with Orion.
"At today's corn and soybean prices, it's no comparison. It's 4-5 times that," Goode said.
Orion's website showed the estimated tax revenue created for the area is $850 million.
"Because the project stands to bring in so much tax revenue it actually results in reducing the Saluda Township property taxes by as much as half. And the surrounding Jefferson property taxes as well," Amanda Hoffman with Orion said over email.
The Jefferson County board of zoning appeals will hear Orion's request for an "exemption" to the unified development ordinance for 3,890 acres on Oct. 1. Hoffman said the panels are only going on about 1,800 acres because they have agreed to generous "set-backs" to put panels far enough away from adjoining property owners and structures.
The surveyor's office said Orion would still need other votes by the county commissioners before construction can start but that Oct. 1 vote is the biggest one.
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