Randolph Solar moves forward

Massive array, one of largest in U.S., wins backing of Charlotte County planners


The Charlotte County Planning Commission bucked the opinion of their consultants and voted 6-3 to recommend issuing a conditional use permit to SolUnesco to develop the proposed 800-megawatt Randolph Solar project in southeast Charlotte County.

SolUnesco’s application now heads to the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors for consideration. The next supervisor’s meeting is Monday at 1:30 p.m. It is not known if the board will take up the issue of SolUnesco’s application at that meeting, as there are already two scheduled public hearings, one on redrawing election districts and the other on the county’s six-year road plan.

The Berkley Group, as staff consultants for Charlotte County, called for the planning commission to deny SolUnesco’s application on the grounds that the proposed use exceeds the maximum density allowed under the county’s zoning ordinance. The Berkley Group also said the project would result in negative impacts to the surrounding area and residents, and is not appropriate due to its massive size and scale.

The project would negatively impact traditional agricultural and forestry land uses, and natural, cultural, and historic resources, the consultants further advised.

Commissioners opposing the project were Miller Adams, Clark Poindexter and David Watkins. W.V. Nichols did not vote or participate in any discussions, citing a conflict of interest. SolUnesco holds an option on 30 acres of land owned by the Nichols family.

SolUnesco has scaled down the proposed footprint of the project from roughly 21,000 acres to 13,000 acres, for 20 square miles of Charlotte County in the Saxe, Bacon and Charlotte Courthouse area.

While the Berkley Group suggested 44 conditions for SolUnesco to abide by for the project to move forward, Michael Zehner, Berkley Group director of environmental programs, said the size and scale of the project could not be sufficiently mitigated by the conditions because the vagueness of SolUnesco’s application makes the true impact of the project unknown.

He said two main areas of concern involved “density” and “acreage.” Charlotte County’s zoning ordinance limits solar fixtures to three percent (3 percent) of the land area in any given five-mile radius. The Board of Supervisors has the authority to approve projects with a greater density.

Zehner said the Randolph Solar Project “does not comply with the density limits. Based upon calculations presented by the Applicant, the project area encompasses a maximum of 6.11% of the land area within any given 5-mile radius, and within a five-mile radius also encompassing the Moody Creek [solar] project.”

Zehner also expressed concerns that SolUnesco’s application would allow it to expand the under-panel area beyond the 3,050 acres shown on their plat map. This was addressed in a condition that capped the number of acres included in the project area to 3,355.

The Berkley Group, in its final report, provided the Planning Commission with two other options — approval with conditions and deferral. Commissioners voted 6-3 to recommend approval of the project with conditions.

Voting in favor of the conditional use permit approval were Kerwin Kunath, Kenny Howard, Cornell Goldman, Eugene Wells, Jim Benn and Planning Chair Andrew Carwile.

Goldman said he favored the project for the jobs and revenue he anticipates it will bring to Charlotte County, while Adams and Watkins expressed concerns about the size of the project. Watkins said he also felt the county was moving too fast. It has already approved three solar projects, but only one has been built, “and there were problems with it,” Watkins said.

Hazel Bowman Smith, a non-voting member of the Planning Commission representing the Board of Supervisors, had called for Goldman, Carwile and Kunath to forego voting on the project because of their involvement with other proposed solar projects — not Randolph Solar — or because of their membership in the South Central Business Alliance formed by SolUnesco on Feb. 28.

Smith said the purpose of the Alliance was to give preferential treatment to Alliance members, specifically in the areas of construction, and information on project start-ups.

Speaking after the meeting, SolUnesco CEO Francis Hodsoll said Smith misconstrued the purpose of the Alliance. He said it was created to ensure that qualified local workers and businesses, not just Alliance members, are always the first choice for providing construction, operational and related services for utility-scale solar and other infrastructure projects.

Hodsoll said SolUnesco views the alliance as an economic development tool — one promoting local businesses — that Charlotte County can use to increase revenues without raising taxes.

Tuesday night’s hearing was the third time in three weeks that members of the Planning Commission met to receive public comment and debate the merits of the Randolph Solar Project, which if built, would become one of the largest solar installations in the U.S. No public comment was allowed at the final meeting on Tuesday.

However, the Planning Commission faced a packed room and a sea of blue hats with the words “Randolph Solar” embroidered across the front as members discussed the project among themselves and with Zehner.

While Hodsoll ultimately received the favorable vote his company wanted, he said the process has been frustrating. He said he’s shared his concerns with County Administrator Dan Witt on several occasions. “The amount of due diligence we’ve done on this one project far exceeds anything we’ve encountered on other [major construction] projects with which we’ve been involved.”

Beyond the more than 10 hours of public hearings, Hodsoll said SolUnesco has performed more than the usual pre-approval wetland, storm water and erosion control analysis, and historic, architectural and cultural resources analysis and provided a detailed schematic showing the location of the projects photovoltaic panels.

Randolph Solar, if approved by supervisors, will have to comply with 44 conditions recommended by the Berkley Group, during and after construction. The conditions include:

» repairing any damage to roadways occurring during development/construction and after commissioning of the project.

» Construction oversight must be by a third-party construction and contract administrator hired by the county. SolUnesco must also submit a construction management plan that addresses traffic control in the area and limits site access from 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

» The project footprint — the area under panels and inverters — is restricted to 3,355 acres of what is now, according to Hodsoll, a 13,000-acre total project area. The remaining lands can be used for stormwater retention ponds, wildlife corridors, and vegetative buffers, but for the most part must remain undisturbed.

» Limiting the density of the project area to 6.11 percent within a five-mile radius. The project area encompasses the land enclosed by fencing. It does not include buffer zones.

» Battery energy storage systems are prohibited on the property without amending the site’s conditional use permit.

» All physically damaged panels or any portion or debris must be removed within 30 days of the damage occurring.

» SolUnesco must submit details on the utility connections between noncontiguous portions of the project, including secured easements, to the Zoning Administrator for approval.

» Wildlife crossings must be designed in conformance with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources Commission’s most recent Solar Energy Facility Guidance.

» Minimum setbacks from all wetlands (including creeks and streams depicted on the conceptual plans) to the nearest installed equipment must be at least 100 feet. The County zoning ordinance limits setbacks to 75 feet.

» Additional vegetative plantings at least 6 feet tall are required where natural vegetation buffers are disturbed or inadequate, and a separate security bond must be posted for the ongoing maintenance of the project’s land cover and vegetative buffers.

» An agreement will be developed to protect the viewshed of areas of historic and cultural significance, such as Staunton River Battlefield State Park, Mulberry Hill, Virginia Bird Trail loop and Annefield Plantation sites.

SolUnesco must also provide a bank letter of credit or surety bond at the start of the project to cover decommissioning costs. SolUnesco had asked to provide a financial guarantee from an investment grade credit-rated entity in lieu of the bond or letter of credit. This request was not approved by members of the Planning Commission.

Other conditions call for SolUnesco or subsequent owner or operators to:

Submit a final decommissioning plan to the County that requires the owner or operator to remove all physical improvements, access roads, materials, and equipment related to Solar Facilities, both surface and subsurface components, upon decommissioning of the project. For Randolph Solar that means at the end of its 35-year life or within 12 months after it ceases to generate power.

Reimburse the County for costs it paid out for independent third-party reviews.

Provide ongoing training to the County’s first responders (Fire and Rescue) to respond to on-site emergencies.

Agree to terminate the Conditional Use Permit if the solar facility does not receive a building permit within 18 months after the SolUnesco receives state, regional transmission organization, and any other required approvals.

Cease operations of Randolph Solar if it is declared to be unsafe, due to a violation of building or electrical codes, as determined by the fire marshal or building official, and SolUnesco or future operator fails to respond in writing to such official notice within thirty (30) days. The stoppage shall continue until the unsafe condition is brought into compliance with the applicable building or electrical code. If the unsafe condition cannot be remedied within six (6) months, the Conditional Use Permit will be terminated, and the Solar Facilities must be decommissioned.

Provide the County with a list, annually, of capital equipment, including solar photovoltaic equipment proposed to be installed at the site, and all other taxable tangible property, for purposes of enabling the County to assess its machine and tools tax.

Notify the County of any power purchase agreement entered into with a third-party if at least eighty percent (80%) of the Solar Facility’s anticipated generation capacity for not less than ten (10) years from commencement of operation or an agreement for purchase of the project by an electric utility or electric cooperative operating in Virginia.

Once it goes online the Randolph Solar photovoltaic array will connect to the same transmission line that carries power from the existing Clover power plant in Halifax County. According to Hodsoll that line is owned by Dominion Energy.

Laura Wilson with Dominion Energy acknowledged that the utility giant has a tentative memorandum of understanding with SolUnesco to purchase and take over operations of Randolph Solar once it goes online.

When asked who will pay for upgrades to that line, if needed to accommodate the additional power being generated, Hodsoll said, as part of the analysis done by PJM (the Regional Transmission Operator) before agreeing to allow Randolph Solar to tap into the transmission line, PJM evaluates how interconnecting Randolph Solar or any generator will impact the transmission system, and that Randolph Solar will pay to upgrade components of the transmission system to ensure that the electrical system as a whole will operate when Randolph is producing 100% of its output.

Hodsoll estimates that the Randolph Solar Project will generate over $130 million in revenue for Charlotte County. “The $20 million would be paid the same year the county permit is issued and would be paid throughout Randolph’s development and construction,” Hodsoll explained.

The $114 million, he said, is based on a revenue sharing agreement that will be negotiated with the County. In reaching that number Hodsoll assumed the County would receive a $1.2 million tax payment in the first year and that the project would last for at least thirty-five years.

Not included in Hodsoll’s calculation are revenues generated from machinery and tools tax assessed by the County. He said, “Dominion and SolUnesco have been evaluating what the tax revenues could be and a conservative estimate is that over a 35-year life the County would receive $200 million, the first year Randolph Solar would pay at least $4 million, and this would escalate by 2% each year.”

Hodsoll said he wanted to assure residents of Charlotte County, both those for and against the project, that “SolUnesco and Dominion are committed to working with the county to ensure we maximize the benefits to the community, and we address any concerns during construction. Once operational, I am confident that our neighbors will find this passive and fully buffered land use to be a good neighbor.”

One response to “Randolph Solar moves forward”

  1. Beverly A Fitz says:

    Mr. Hodsoll states Ms Smith misconstrued but did you discuss his take with her? Ms Smith was reading from their website when she made that statement. The wording on the web has since changed a bit but the SCVBA website still states “SCVBA ensures that local workers and businesses are always the first choice for development in solar or other infrastructure.” Interesting to note that I spoke with all counties except Charlotte to see if they referred to the SCVBusiness Alliance for work in their counties… they never heard of the Alliance. Joining the Alliance sure implies that Alliance members will be referred and get business. Members need to ask.. referred by whom?? If the counties don’t know about it who will do the referring? According to the VA State Corporation Commission the Registered Agent for this Alliance is SolUnesco.. !!!! So I’m assuming that businesses pay (SolUnesco) to join the Alliance so that they think they will be sort of guaranteed business when SolUnesco is approved for development of any job. Now do you pay your employer for the promise of maybe hiring you????? Just askin!

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