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On the one hand, the planned North Branch Solar project would provide revenue for both the landowner and Prince Edward County. On the other, some supervisors pointed out the challenges this project, and others like it, create. 

By a majority decision, with Harrison Jones and David Emert opposing, Prince Edward supervisors approved the project during their Tuesday, Sept. 10 meeting. Llew Gilliam abstained from voting, as he has a family member with property near the project. 

What is North Branch Solar? 

First off, let’s detail where this new solar project will be. North Branch, which is owned and operated by Charlottesville-based Sun Tribe, covers a 40 acre portion of land on a 147.5-acre parcel. This was part of a much larger solar project by Turning Point Energy that had been approved several years ago, in 2019. Turning Point walked away from the project, however, selling all of the parcels separately. That’s where Sun Tribe stepped in. 

This is located on the east side of Thomas Jefferson Highway, across from its intersection with Point Road. The project would be on the east side of the railroad tracks, with the closest resident no more than 500 feet on the west side of Thomas Jefferson Highway. It is at the convergence of Prince Edward, Charlotte County and Appomattox County, so landowners in all three areas would be affected and were notified of the project. No one came to speak against the project during Tuesday’s meeting. 

There were several in favor of it, however. 

Pamplin resident Andrew Elder, whose property would bump up against this, said he had no issues with it going forward. He also respected the right of property owners to do what they want with their own land. 

As mentioned before, this would be a small solar facility, 3 megawatts in total. According to Mangum Economics, which did a study for Sun Tribe, the project would generate an estimated $71,000 in real estate tax over 40 years, with more than $264,000 coming in energy revenue share tax. The company will also pay a one-time amount of $10,000 per megawatt, so $30,000 in total. 

Sun Tribe also plans more than 3,000 feet of new vegetative buffer, so trees, brush, etc., on the western side to hide the project from the train tracks. They also plan doing the same for the south side, to screen it from neighboring properties. 

There will be no battery storage on site, as the project will connect to an existing distribution power line, which means there is no need for an existing substation. 

Some issues raised by supervisors 

But in discussions, both with the Sun Tribe representative and each other, supervisors raised several questions. The first came from supervisor Harrison Jones, who questioned how many of Sun Tribe’s projects were still owned by the company. The representative, John Townsend, admitted that there’s a really good chance Sun Tribe sells once it’s complete. 

“It’s very likely that someone other than sun tribe could own and operate this long term,” Townsend told the board. “The most likely owner would be someone like Dominion, a utility company.” 

And then, what about traffic? The application said Sun Tribe’s project won’t increase traffic, but as Emert pointed out, two lines later, “it says there will be 25 to 40 trips a day to the site during construction.” 

Townsend mentioned North Branch Solar had a consultant do a traffic study, which reported there would be no issues. 

“That may be, but he doesn’t drive trucks, I do,” Emert said. “I know there’s a short distance between 47 and the railroad tracks, so that if there’s a train on there, a tractor trailer will not fit between 47 and the train tracks, so you’ve got 47 blocked up and you’ve got a problem with the railroad tracks.”  

Emert also pointed out that the contract says if anything changes, if the project gets sold, the company has 60 days to let county officials know. 

“I think it’s absolutely crazy to allow someone to change ownership of something and then let us know 60 days later,” Emert said. 

He also pointed out that as of now, no firefighters in Prince Edward County have been trained with how to handle a fire if one or more of the solar panels ignite. 

A call for a moratorium

Emert said he believes the county needs to slow down, to give firefighters time to train and people time to better understand the changes with solar. 

“There’s just upteen things here that are red flags,” Emert said. “It scares me to death that we continue to look at projects and things that we don’t know what the outcome is or anything else. I would love to see the county put some type of moratorium or something for a year to see what in the world these projects, what’s going to turn out.” 

There was no support from other supervisors for a moratorium. Instead, they saw North Branch as a benefit in several ways. 

“I live around a bunch of professors who are environmentalists,” supervisor Cannon Watson said. “They do not live in fear. I read neighboring counties who are way way opposed. The harsh criticism is rarely from someone who is an environmentalist. If these projects are legal, to have a small one surrounded by bigger property, in an out of the way location whose neighbor is not offended by it, I think we have a diligent planning commission that recommended we approve it and I will.”