The Week in Renewable Fights

1. York County, South Carolina – Silfab Solar’s efforts to build a solar panel factory in coastal South Carolina have become a nexus of fear politics in recent weeks, even as the community’s Republican congressman tries to assuage residents’ concerns.

• Members of the community are concerned about chemicals that will be used at the plant, which will be built near two schools. They also say they’re worried about the risk of fires or explosions.
• A town meeting about Silfab last week was hosted by Representative Ralph Norman and drew more than a hundred people. It turned into a fury venting session. You can watch the drama play out in full here.
• On his part, Norman seems to be straddling the line, trying to assure residents the project will be safe while recognizing that many are fretting about the project.
• Move Silfab, a group campaigning to relocate the plant, is holding a community organizing event this Saturday.

2. Knox County, Nebraska – North Fork Wind LLC last week joined with landowners to sue Knox County in federal court over expansions to a stepback ordinance that the company says were expressly designed to kill their 600-megawatt wind farm.

• Knox County changed a 2,000-foot stepback into a 6,600-foot one earlier this year after a push by self-described “Wind Watchers,” what appears to be an ad hoc collection of activists that are opposing wind energy projects across Nebraska. Upon examining social media pages for some “Wind Watchers” groups, I can tell you there’s a lot of misinformation about wind and solar in their content feeds.
• I’m watching ordinances and legal challenges like these closely. They’re quickly becoming an easy way for projects to get gummed up in administrative red tape over the concerns of fear-founded groups like Wind Watchers.

3. Madison County, Ohio – What could be the largest agri-voltaics project in the U.S. may be poised for a showdown in the Ohio Supreme Court.

• Savion Energy’s 800-megawatt Oak Run solar project was re-approved by the Ohio Power Siting Board last week after a lengthy battle with local opposition.
• Critics then told local press they’re looking at taking this decision to the state Supreme Court as a last stand against the project.
• This is happening as the same court will soon decide in two cases whether the Power Siting Board can reject solar projects based solely on whether there’s local dissent.
• Agri-voltaics are crucial to the future of solar energy and present an opportunity for sustainable renewable development on farmland. Keep an eye out for a much longer dive into the opposition to Oak Run in next week’s edition of The Fight.

4. Nantucket County, Massachusetts – If you thought the Vineyard Wind debacle would go away, the fishermen want you to know you’re sadly mistaken.

• The New England Fisherman’s Stewardship Association – a fishing trade group formed last year to oppose offshore wind development – held a protest on the water outside Avangrid’s project last week that got picked up by Fox News.

5. San Luis Obispo County, California – I’m monitoring resistance to an ongoing study by Port San Luis and Clean Energy Terminals in central California on whether to become an offshore wind operation and maintenance hub.

• The U.S. will need many more offshore wind manufacturing sites to meet its deployment goals. While no projects off California’s coast are currently underway, building infrastructure at sites like Port San Luis will be essential to building a state offshore wind industry.
• Right now, local officials are facing opposition from REACT Alliance, a California grassroots group that as far as I can tell has little local support but is linked with the growing network of anti-offshore organizations. While in its infancy, the fact they’re so plugged in with other more successful and vocal organizations is definitely a concern.

Here are a few more hotspots I’m watching…

• In Nebraska, a utility-scale solar project by National Grid Renewables is sparking anger from a neighboring town with a population of 120 people. There’s scant info about the project online. (Dear NGR folks, please email me back about this project! I want to learn more.)
• In Iowa, the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline received a crucial construction permit from the state utilities commission. But there’s a catch: the project must first get clearance from regulators in North and South Dakota before the build. And there’s going to be many, many hurdles to that.