One of the nation’s largest solar farms is being considered in northwest Indiana. The 13,000-acre Mammoth Solar project, or about the size of 100 football fields, is expected to annually generate energy for 275,000 households.
Although there are protests against the construction, it is proposed to be built on farmland.
Solar currently accounts for 3% of the nation’s electricity supply. However, the Biden administration has goals of eliminating or offsetting emissions by 2050. To do that, land equal to a maximum of 0.5% of the contiguous United States’ surface area would be needed for solar growth. That’s about twice the size of Massachusetts.
Farms account for approximately 4% of all land in the United States. Is farmland the right resource to abandon for energy needs? Transferring farmland to solar farms is a complex and political issue — more than a farmer just receiving lease payments from a solar contractor. Transferees might encounter local zoning ordinances, additional tax liabilities and future environmental uses that could affect soil or wildlife, among other concerns.
In April, the Purdue University Extension released an assessment that explored the use of site-appropriate, low-growing seed mixtures that would be friendly to pollinating insects or even grazing sheep under solar panels with accommodating heights. Pollinator-friendly land is becoming more popular; it helps improve soil quality and requires less mowing.
In Indiana, a solar land base rate formula, signed into law in 2021, is to be used to assess land beneath utility-grade solar energy installations. It explains how property owned or used by a public utility is to be taxed. In general, such land in central Indiana has a median assessment cap of $13,000 per acre.
Certainly, the assessment formula benefits utilities, but incentives are forming for farmland use as nearly 15 projects are planned for rural Indiana sites.
But the biggest hindrance to solar farms is, quite simply, confusion and misinformation.
Researchers at Michigan State University called it the wind social gap theory, a mix of community attitudes, politics and investor goals. The arguments for and against solar now have a name.
Concerning the Mammoth Solar project, remonstrators have formed a group notably known as Pulaski County Against Solar. Opponents recently won their case in the Indiana Court of Appeals, which found that the county zoning board’s “arbitrary and capricious” approval of Mammoth Solar’s application was prejudicial to the residents’ participating in public hearings.
Local communities should evaluate whether solar farms will boost their property tax base and, among other concerns, pay for roads and fire protection services near the site.
Local zoning authorities must hold meaningful and transparent engagement among residents, local officials and developers with the aim of avoiding distrust. It is a guideline for all Hoosier communities to keep in mind.
© 2024 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.