Cricket Solar, developer of a proposed 1,600-acre solar farm in Culpeper County, has yanked its application in the face of extensive local opposition to the project, reports the Culpeper Star-Exponent.
“On behalf of Cricket Solar LLC, I am writing to formally withdraw Cricket’s Conditional Use Permit application,” wrote attorney Ann Neil Cosby in a letter to Culpeper County’s planning director. “Cricket has been working diligently over the last few months redesigning the project boundaries to protect wetlands, improve efficiencies, and respond to community concerns related to the project.”
A local group, Citizens for Responsible Solar (CSR), had called for the project to be delayed to address neighbors’ concerns about natural and historic resources in the area. Cricket gave no indication of if or when it might re-file.
Bacon’s bottom line: The delay-delay strategy has defeated a major solar farm project, at least for now. Now that CSR has scored a big victory, it is logical to ask whether the group will now rest on its laurels, content that it has protected its own back yard, or seek to build a crusade. Indications from its website are that the organization does plan to oppose other projects.
The group, which recently organized as a 501(c)(4)-status pending IRS approval, regards itself as progenitor of a broader movement. Says the CRS website:
Our group of concerned citizens … is a grassroots movement that grew out of what we saw was the destruction of the rural Virginia landscape. Our goal is to educate the public on the negative impact of utility-scale solar on farmlands, woodlands, and the surrounding communities. We promote the responsible use of solar – meaning smaller-scale rural or larger-scale urban/industrial projects, roof-top installations, and installations that do not result in the loss of significant farmlands, woodlands, and wildlife habitat.
We do not support large government subsidies for industrial-scale projects that destroy miles of habitat and are a visual blight on the land.
Destruction of habitat on an industrial scale is not green. … Once permitted, these projects are often immediately sold to unrelated companies who develop the projects using out-of-state labor, with significantly fewer local economic benefits than initially claimed. Many projects threaten land on or near historic battlefields and other historic properties.
The organization is paying attention to what’s going on around the state. The website lists more than 75 “notices of intent” to build solar facilities. Meanwhile, CDR’s anti-solar activists are building a body of knowledge that will prove useful in opposing other projects. For example, the website replicates a Power Line blog post highlighting the hazards of decommissioning solar panels, which contain large volumes of cadmium. The heavy metal can be toxic in high concentrations (as environmentalists have warned us in pushing for the landfilling of coal ash). Also, according to news reports, CSR has reached out to officials in at least one other locality, Madison County, in opposition to industrial-scale solar.
I understand the group’s desire to protect treasured landscapes, historic resources, and the rural way of life. And I respect its shrewdness in proclaiming itself in favor of solar power — just not industrial-scale solar power.
But let’s be honest about one thing: smaller-scale and rooftop-scale solar is less economical than industrial-scale solar. The reason we see so many applications for solar farms in Virginia is that it is far more cheaper per unit to install thousands of solar panels on flat surfaces than to retrofit rooftops with hundreds of panels. If rooftop solar were economical, we’d see dozens of manufacturers and big-box retailers clamoring for the right to install it. But they’re not. They’re clamoring for the right to buy industrial-scale solar from vendors other than Dominion Energy.
If we’re serious about solar energy in Virginia, then we need to get behind industrial-scale solar. Pretending that community-scale solar can contribute more than a small fraction of Virginia’s energy needs is a fantasy. I am astonished that environmentalists aren’t paying more attention. They’re doing everything they can to shut down coal and fossil fuels, and many have signaled their opposition to extending the licenses for the North Anna and Surry nuclear power units. If wind and solar are all that’s left, they’d better make sure we can build those on the grand scale that’s needed. Conversely, if they’re not serious about ensuring large-scale solar development, they sure as heck need to back off their obstruction of other energy sources.
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