The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Henderson County Board held a special meeting on Tuesday, December 10th to discuss and possibly vote on a special use permit for a solar farm just south of Oquawka.
The company seeking to build the solar farm is from New York and has been in business for 15 years. A company representative named Zac, who flew in from New York attended the meeting to answer the publics questions. Through back-and-forth discussions, sometimes heated, Zac informed the audience that the solar panels are approximately 20% efficient. Zac stated the panels his company uses are completely nontoxic to the environment, including ground water, and they have a lifespan of 40+ years.
Much of the concern from the people in attendance was about what happens to the panels when they are no longer useful. Zac stated there is a decommission agreement in place which provides a plan and funds through an insurance bond to dispose of the panels. It was noted the bond is in the amount of $500,000 and that would not be sufficient to completely dispose of the panels. When pressed by some audience members about scenarios such as his company going bankrupt, Zac didn’t provide a clear answer as to who would be responsible for the disposal.
Zac stated the solar farm would benefit the community but said it was too early to know if the power that the panels produce would feed Ameren Illinois’ grid or be sold privately. It was noted the farm would produce 5 megawatts of power which would provide approximately $25,000 in tax revenue to the county.
The Board stated they had met with private council specializing in solar farms on Monday, December 9th. Through that meeting the board learned there were several conditions and considerations which are typically included in solar farm agreements which had not been included in this particular agreement. The special council emailed the list of these conditions to the Henderson County State’s Attorney just a few hours before the Tuesday meeting. Due to the board not having enough time to look over the special council’s suggestions, the matter was tabled until they could schedule another meeting. No date or possible date was given for the next meeting to vote on the solar farm.
Jeff Tee
River Rat News
“Just the facts, Ma’am”