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By Debbie Wachter | New Castle News (Part 2 of 4)
(Second in a series) Controversy against a proposed North Beaver Township solar energy project erupted in 2021 after Vesper Energy of Texas approached farmers to lease prime land and install contiguous glass panels to produce large-scale electrical power. The concept was enticing to farmers who wanted to generate more income from their agricultural land. But there were cautions during leasing, and one local farmer shared his own dealings with the company to date have left him unsure about what will happen next. The North Beaver Township supervisors, in reaction to opposition, adopted an ordinance restricting commercial and industrial solar systems to industrial properties. That prevented Vesper from commencing with three- to five-year leases it already entered with farmers on their land. One of its leases was with 71-year-old Herman Cvetan, who operates a 200-acre farm in North Beaver Township. Cvetan, interviewed in early September, said about 20 to 25 farmers entered agreements with Vesper. Most of those are now expired or will expire around December. Meanwhile, Vesper came into Lawrence County this summer trying to rejuvenate interest in the proposed project. It sponsored an informational public open house in midsummer at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and according to Cvetan, it treated some of the land owners to a restaurant lunch to regenerate interest in lease renewals. He said he was one of only about five farmers to attend the luncheon. North Beaver ordinance precludes the company from locating its solar energy-generating equipment on any agricultural land. The measure also requires a company installing a commercial/industrial solar system in an industrial area to put bond money up front to ensure when the system might someday be decommissioned, 85 percent of the cost would be in place to pay for its removal and disposal. The ordinance does allow private residents to have individual solar systems on their properties with guidelines. That gives farmers and other residents the right to put in their own solar systems for their own use. Vesper Energy had the option of filing an appeal to the ordinance to the Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas within a 30-day window after its adoption, but it did not seek that legal remedy. Instead, it is looking to the landowners to spread a good word in trying to change the situation, Cvetan said in a recent phone interview. A FARMER’S ATTEMPTED REMEDY Cvetan said that upon advice from Chad A. Forcey, executive director of the Pennsylvania Conservative Energy Forum which advocates for alternative energy use, he filed action on March 28, 2022, through the state Office of the Attorney General, seeking a remedy to the ordinance under the state Agriculture, Communities and Rural Environment (ACRE) Act. Forcey participated in the recent open house Vesper Energy hosted at The Cathedral, where fewer than 10 residents attended. Cvetan’s action before the attorney general was conceivably the first solar claim of its kind filed in Pennsylvania under ACRE, Forcey said during the open house roundtable discussion. ACRE remedies ensure ordinances local governments adopt to regulate normal agricultural operations do not violate state law. Cvetan said his filing was on behalf of the 20 to 25 landowners who entered leases with Vesper. His name appeared online on the state filing. He proposed to allow the installation of the photovoltaic system on his North Beaver farm, according to his filing with the state, and he contended the township ordinance violates his right to farm. “This ordinance is unduly restrictive and strips away the right of farmers, and farmers alone, from using their land to produce solar energy,” Cvetan claimed in his letter to the state agency. North Beaver Township Solicitor Louis M. Perrotta had sent the state agency a response letter with the township’s position, saying the ordinance complies with Act 38 of 2005, which ensures local government exercises its responsibility to protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens in regulating normal agricultural operations, and not unlawfully prohibit or limit a normal agricultural operation. Perrotta’s letter noted the supervisors adopted the solar ordinance to permit solar uses within the township with appropriate limitations for public safety, health and welfare. Cvetan said he received a letter a few months ago from the attorney general’s office saying the agency dismissed his filing. The attorney general’s website merely said Cvetan’s appeal is “denied.” INITIAL PLANS A Vesper land leasing agent a few years ago approached farm owners in the township about leasing their fields to create a solar electrical power grid to be primarily in North Beaver Township but extend to neighboring municipalities, including SNPJ Borough. The representative at the time told the supervisors the company’s plans were to establish a 400-megawatt system on 2,500 farmland acres in and around the township. He said the plans were to start building the $400-million system by the end of 2023. When finished, it would provide a million kilowatt hours, or 60,000 ohms, of electricity per year. He said there was no buyer yet for the electricity. The township has three industrial zones, the largest off Route 18. Others are off Edinburg Road and Route 317 before the Bessemer Borough line. “The leases are starting to run now out,” Cvetan said of Vesper’s three-to-five-year agreements with the farmers. He said it was his understanding leases would automatically renew with increases in payments, but the company is now facing farmers asking for four or five stipulations before agreeing to terms. One is that the township ordinance be overturned. Another stipulation is the amount of money Vesper is willing to pay on a per-acre lease. “We wanted $50, and they came back with an offer of $40,” Cvetan said. “We wanted $1,200 per acre once the company would start selling electricity. They offered $1,000 per acre at first, and we wanted $1,200 on the ground where the panels would be located. “Right now, the farmers have a certain number of acres leased, but not all of that land can be used,” he explained, “and out of 100 acres, you may actually get 30 to 40 acres (where the panels are located). We countered for $1,200 and they told us, $1,100.” Vesper told the farmers when the project is decommissioned in 30 to 40 years, “we’ll all be gone and this will be for our heirs,” and the farms can go back into production, Cvetan said. “There are many, many unanswered questions with this outfit,” he said of Vesper, adding, “They’ve been kind of disappointing for us. “Everyone’s opinion when we left that luncheon was that they just put this right back onto us to get this going, and to see if we could get the ordinance changed,” Cvetan said. “Right now with what is happening, we’ve lost some landowners who were plainly disgusted and said we’re done dealing with them and aren’t signing leases. “They could offer $1 million an acre today and it would make no difference because we can’t get rid of the ordinance,” he said. REPEAL SOUGHT Cvetan said he still disagrees with the township ordinance because it dictates his rights of how to use his farmland. He has filed a nominating petition to run as an independent candidate for township supervisor in the Nov. 7 general election, and if he is elected, one of his goals will be to try to overturn what he calls an unfair ordinance His campaign mailers are paid for by a political action committee called R.E.D. PAC, which is based in Austin, Texas, according to its website. “They’re telling us how to run our farms,” he said of the current board of supervisors. Since adopting the ordinance, the supervisors have not budged in their decision. Supervisors Grant McKinley and Scott Barth voted in favor of enacting the ordinance. Barth reasoned at the time Vesper wanted to cover about one-tenth of the township in solar panels. Supervisor Jerry Tillia voted against the ordinance. McKinley, a Republican, is seeking reelection to his seat for six more years, and Cvetan will oppose him in the Nov. 7 race. “Nothing has changed,” McKinley commented. “Mr. Cvetan lost his case. We’re solid in our ordinance.” Neighboring New Beaver Borough Council also unanimously adopted a solar ordinance July 10, placing regulations on solar energy systems constructed within the borough. Little Beaver Township, which neighbors North Beaver Township, adopted an ordinance similar to that of New Beaver Borough, regulating solar energy systems within the township, but Little Beaver Township has no zoning ordinance that would restrict the solar panels on farmland, explained Supervisor Robert Kuhn. He said Little Beaver’s ordinance is standard and places certain restrictions on solar systems. New Beaver and Little Beaver share the same solicitor, Ryan Long. “We’re really in the middle and not taking a stand right now,” Kuhn said of the solar issue. “We’re just doing what’s best for the township and talking with our solicitor about it.” (Tomorrow: As farmers grow more reluctant, Vesper Energy representatives discuss the advantages of solar farms at a recent open house.) dwachter@ncnewsonline.com With photos here https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/local_news/solar-dilemma-solar-ordinance-divides-farmer-supervisors/article_7f017770-3608-11ee-bf5d-9b4d30b06dc2.html By Debbie Wachter | New Castle News (Part 1 of 4)
A Texas energy company with its sights set on installing shoulder-to-shoulder solar energy panels on contiguous prime farmland in North Beaver Township is facing an uphill struggle to continue with its proposed project for electricity generation. But should the political climate for the venture change and its plans materialize — and in an effort to promote its goodwill in the area — Vesper Energy of Allen, Texas, has promised to pay the Mohawk Area School District $250,000 a year annually for 40 years if its project materializes. The school district accepted that offer. Vesper’s proposed project, Firefly Solar, would create a 200-megawatt solar energy network on prime farmland, specifically in North Beaver. Vesper proposes the operation would create enough renewable, American-made energy to power a large number of homes and businesses while generating about $1.6 million per year in state and local tax revenue from operations. The solar farm concept, which first surfaced in western Lawrence County a few years ago, drew opposition from many residents who attended a public township supervisors meeting in 2021, protesting Vesper’s plans to install hundreds of lithium battery-operated panels on contiguously leased agricultural lands. The supervisors in a 2-1 vote at that time adopted a solar energy ordinance restricting the commercial/industrial use of solar panels to industrial zones designated on the township zoning map. That measure effectively has stymied the company’s options for leasing land for its solar venture. Reasons some residents cited for their consternation about the plans were the unsightliness of the panels as opposed to looking at rural farmland, concerns about the company staying in business for the project duration, its pledge of payment and terms in the leases with farmers, the continued upkeep of the system and panels, the inability to farm prime acres and what will happen to the panels after the project is decommissioned. The township ordinance requires a company establishing a commercial/industrial solar project to post a bond to cover 85 percent of the cost to pay for its someday removal and disposal when the project is decommissioned. Vesper’s financial pledge to the Mohawk school district was the same proposal it made last fall to the Lawrence County government via the county commissioners and to the North Beaver Township supervisors. Neither the county nor the township accepted the offer. The district’s administration signed a “contribution agreement” to accept the funds should the Firefly project commence. The district by accepting would stand to collect $10 million from Vesper over the 40 years of the project, according to a district-generated news release. Vesper proposed to the district, the county commissioners and the North Beaver supervisors if the project commences, it will also pay each of those governing entities the $250,000 a year for 40 years — beyond the life of the project, estimated to be 25 to 35 years — should the company’s plans come to fruition. That equates to $30 million total to all three governing bodies over the 40-year term the company has promised. Mohawk’s Solicitor Russell Lucas of the Pittsburgh law firm Andrews & Price LLC said in a phone interview the school board members have been made aware of its terms. “There’s really nothing that the district is promising to do, except to accept the money,” Lucas emphasized. “The district is not taking a position on the project.” He emphasized the district has no obligation to advocate for the project publicly or to pledge support. “That’s a pretty significant amount of money and is not in lieu of taxes, and there is no quid pro quo,” Lucas said. The county commissioners, instead of accepting the offer, informed Vesper officials that they would respect the rights of the township officials who decided to prohibit the project on prime farmland. “We respect the wishes of the municipal officials, especially in those municipalities that have zoning ordinances,” Commissioner Chairman Dan Vogler emphasized. “If they decided not to allow these in certain zoned areas, we have no authority to overrule them, and we would respect their right to do that.” Erin Baker, Vesper’s director of development for the Firefly project, had sent an email to the commissioners in September, offering the same “community benefit agreement” to county government as it did to the school district. She wrote the company had made the same offer to North Beaver Township. “The commissioners have not signed anything to accept this,” Vogler said, adding that the commissioners have not heard anything more from the company in several months. “I respect the autonomy of local municipalities,” he said. “They don’t report to the commissioners, and I don’t believe as a commissioner that we should be trying to influence them.” Former Commissioner Morgan Boyd, who was chairman of the commissioners when that correspondence was received, responded in a return email last September that “the board of commissioners is going to refrain from taking any action on this proposal until such time as the North Beaver Township board of supervisors takes action on it.” North Beaver Supervisor Grant McKinley said that there are no plans to change or repeal the township ordinance, rather, “the ordinance is solid.” Firefly Solar in an attempt to gain momentum for its project has scheduled two meetings this week. The company has invited local landowners to a dinner Wednesday at Edward’s Restaurant in New Castle to educate them more about the proposed project and cleaner energy and what the company predicts would be a stronger economy. The solar company also has scheduled a noontime vendor open house at the American Legion ity to farm prime acres and what will happen to the panels after the project is decommissioned. The township ordinance requires a company establishing a commercial/industrial solar project to post a bond to cover 85 percent of the cost to pay for its someday removal and disposal when the project is decommissioned. Vesper’s financial pledge to the Mohawk school district was the same proposal it made last fall to the Lawrence County government via the county commissioners and to the North Beaver Township supervisors. Neither the county nor the township accepted the offer. The district’s administration signed a “contribution agreement” to accept the funds should the Firefly project commence. The district by accepting would stand to collect $10 million from Vesper over the 40 years of the project, according to a district-generated news release. Vesper proposed to the district, the county commissioners and the North Beaver supervisors if the project commences, it will also pay each of those governing entities the $250,000 a year for 40 years — beyond the life of the project, estimated to be 25 to 35 years — should the company’s plans come to fruition. That equates to $30 million total to all three governing bodies over the 40-year term the company has promised. Mohawk’s Solicitor Russell Lucas of the Pittsburgh law firm Andrews & Price LLC said in a phone interview the school board members have been made aware of its terms. “There’s really nothing that the district is promising to do, except to accept the money,” Lucas emphasized. “The district is not taking a position on the project.” He emphasized the district has no obligation to advocate for the project publicly or to pledge support. “That’s a pretty significant amount of money and is not in lieu of taxes, and there is no quid pro quo,” Lucas said. The county commissioners, instead of accepting the offer, informed Vesper officials that they would respect the rights of the township officials who decided to prohibit the project on prime farmland. “We respect the wishes of the municipal officials, especially in those municipalities that have zoning ordinances,” Commissioner Chairman Dan Vogler emphasized. “If they decided not to allow these in certain zoned areas, we have no authority to overrule them, and we would respect their right to do that.” Erin Baker, Vesper’s director of development for the Firefly project, had sent an email to the commissioners in September, offering the same “community benefit agreement” to county government as it did to the school district. She wrote the company had made the same offer to North Beaver Township. “The commissioners have not signed anything to accept this,” Vogler said, adding that the commissioners have not heard anything more from the company in several months. “I respect the autonomy of local municipalities,” he said. “They don’t report to the commissioners, and I don’t believe as a commissioner that we should be trying to influence them.” Former Commissioner Morgan Boyd, who was chairman of the commissioners when that correspondence was received, responded in a return email last September that “the board of commissioners is going to refrain from taking any action on this proposal until such time as the North Beaver Township board of supervisors takes action on it.” North Beaver Supervisor Grant McKinley said that there are no plans to change or repeal the township ordinance, rather, “the ordinance is solid.” Firefly Solar in an attempt to gain momentum for its project has scheduled two meetings this week. The company has invited local landowners to a dinner Wednesday at Edward’s Restaurant in New Castle to educate them more about the proposed project and cleaner energy and what the company predicts would be a stronger economy. The solar company also has scheduled a noontime vendor open house at the American Legion Post 343 on North Jefferson Street for contractors, skilled laborers and business owners to learn more about potential regional business partnerships once Firefly Solar enters the construction phase. (Tomorrow: A North Beaver farmer’s view of the ability to lease his land for solar energy use.) dwachter@ncnewsonline.com(mailto:dwachter@ncnewsonline.com) Article with images (https://www.ncnewsonline.com/news/local_news/solar-dilemma-solar-ordinance-divides-farmer-supervisors/article_7f017770-3608-11ee-bf5d-9b4d30b06dc2.html) Look at what sources are saying the solar company has done in just the last 3 months:
Why is a Texas base R.E.D. PAC committee paying big money advertising mailers and pushing texts for Herm Cvetan? Are they getting ready for when Herm Cvetan gets elected as township supervisor to change their biggest road block, the solar ordinance? Who is RED PAC?
R.E.D. PAC (Rural Economic Development) located in Austin, TX based political action committee that states they vet and assist candidates that support utility scale wind and solar. Learn more here Out of state money is trying to influence our local election! R.E.D. PAC sent out flyers supporting Herm Cvetan for North Beaver township supervisor. Did you get it in the mail? WHY IS A TEXAS BASED COMMITTEE SUPPORTING SOMEONE RUNNING FOR A LOCAL SUPERVISOR POSITION? R.E.D PAC vets who they support by: tracking all major utility-scale wind and solar projects currently under consideration (or in permitting) throughout the country. Herm Cvetan may not state his campaign is about changing the solar ordinance, but ask why this out of town PAC committee found him and is backing him? Signs are going up. Website has been update. Go to www.MoreAboutSolar.com
We are still waiting on candidate’s responses. Feel free to reach out to the candidates yourself. Most importantly, don’t forget to vote! Your vote counts! WE have been working hard gathering various candidate’s stance about industrial solar on prime farm land.
Check back each week for the latest news leading up to the election. If the US converted all our energy we use now to renewable green wind and solar energy, how big of a footprint would that look like?
And, in what ways are these green energy solutions better? Learn more and watch this 60 second video here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1337426837208729/ Reach out to contact State rep Aaron Bernstine 8th Legislative District with your views of industrial solar. He does not serve all of Lawrence County, but he does serve some areas that could be be impacted by industrial solar being installed on prime farm land. https://www.repbernstine.com/contact Way to go Adam County. Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano introduces a bill to keep solar panels off pristine farmland. Let’s go Lawrence County! We can do this too.
https://www.wgal.com/amp/article/pennsylvania-state-senator-doug-mastriano-bill-keep-solar-panels-off-farmland/44816982 Reach out to contact State rep Aaron Bernstine 8th Legislative District with your views of industrial solar. He does not serve all of Lawrence County, but he does serve some areas that could be be impacted by industrial solar being installed on prime farm land. https://www.repbernstine.com/contact |