BrightNight shares info on planned solar project

Overall, the project is planned to span around 1,000 acres, which takes into accounts setbacks from residential neighbors of nearly two football fields in length, Coon said.

“We’re pleased to have found many landowners who are excited to support the BrightNight Ragland Solar project. Most of our landowners are farmers, many of whom will be able to continue to utilize their land for farming and grazing in and around the clean energy facilities, while leasing portions of their land for solar,” Coon wrote in an email to The Sun.

Coon said BrightNight hopes to begin construction by the end of 2023.

In October 2021, Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company announced a deal to purchase the renewable energy credits from the power produced by the Ragland Solar Project project in McCracken County. This purchase agreement is part of LG&E and KU’s contracts to provide renewable energy to five major organizations: the University of Kentucky, North American Stainless, the University of Louisville, The Chemours Company and Dow.

While LG&E and KU have agreed to purchase the renewable energy credits from the energy Ragland Solar Project is anticipated to produce, BrightNight Vice President of Communications Maribeth Sawchuk said this does not mean McCracken County would not benefit from the project.

“(LG&E and KU) are buying the energy credits, but the power the project generates is going out onto the grid in the region. Folks will benefit from that power generation, added resiliency,” Sawchuk said.

Sawchuk added that with a renewable energy company in the area, McCracken County could also attract a larger industry that would help meet the area’s long-term economic development goals.

Stan and Joy Knaus own 80 acres of farmland in McCracken County and have agreed to lease their farmland, which they are currently leasing to a farmer who grows wheat and soybeans, to BrightNight for the Ragland Solar Project. Stan Knaus, a retired environmental engineer, and Joy Knaus, a retired teacher, said the lease agreement would help provide a more stable additional income for them, and also for their children when they inherit the property, compared to the varying income farming brings to the property owners.

After some research about solar panels and solar farms, Stan Knaus said he found that solar panels do not produce a lot of noise.

“I’d much rather have this than a chicken farm. This sounds really good,” he said.

At Wednesday’s meeting, BrightNight representatives also shared information about solar project dual use, which the company says is a way to combine solar projects with agricultural or non-conventional soil and vegetation management so that land that is being leased for solar projects could also potentially be used for other agriculture-related purposes. Some ways BrightNight said land with solar panels could also be used include sheep grazing, planting pollinator habitats and for beekeeping.

Coon anticipates over 100 jobs being created during construction of the solar farm project. Between three and five long-term operations and maintenance employees would be involved once the project is up and running, according to informational flyers BrightNight gave out at Wednesday’s meeting. The company also anticipates the project generating $21 million in local economic investments and $9.2 million in local tax revenue over the life of the project, Coon added.

Sawchuk added that Wednesday’s event was a good opportunity for BrightNight to get community feedback that will inform the company on decisions and initiatives that are important to the area. She also mentioned BrightNight’s intention to find ways to get involved in community-led initiatives, such as STEM-based initiatives and community greenspace programs, and find ways to help different groups in the area.

There are still several legal hoops for BrightNight to jump through before any ground can be broken on the Ragland Solar Project.

BrightNight needed to hold Wednesday’s public meeting as part of the Kentucky Siting Board construction certificate application process, which will decide whether to grant BrightNight that certificate. Per state statute, BrightNight needed to host a public meeting in McCracken County at least 90 days prior to submitting an application for a construction certificate to the state. The earliest the company would know if it is approved for this certificate is summer 2023.

Additionally, BrightNight will need to meet the guidelines outlined in McCracken County’s solar ordinance adopted in 2021. The ordinance requires tree lines to be in place to act as a visual buffer for the panels.

Some of the guidelines revolve around the county’s zoning map and the county’s future land use plan. Commercial solar energy systems, another name for solar farms, would only be permitted in agricultural zones as listed on the county’s zoning map, and would also need to comply with the county’s future land use plan for areas designated as agricultural. According to the county’s zoning ordinance, the county’s Board of Adjustment shall reject any application that does not agree with the future land use plan.

This means the properties BrightNight is leasing would all need to be zoned as agricultural on the county’s zoning map, and all of the properties would also need to be designated as agricultural on the county’s future land use map in order to obtain a conditional use permit.

BrightNight plans to apply to the McCracken County Planning Commission and the McCracken County Board of Adjustment for future land use plan changes, rezoning and a conditional use permit.

Last November, the Board of Adjustment granted a conditional use permit to another solar farm project, McCracken County Solar.