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The numbers didn’t match up. When employees from Gabriel Solar LLC came to argue their case Tuesday night, sometimes what they said didn’t match with the slides on their presentation. At times, it also didn’t match what was in the documentation given to Prince Edward County supervisors beforehand. In the end, the negatives of the project outweighed the positives for the board, as supervisors voted 7-1 to reject the proposal, with Patti Cooper-Jones in opposition. 

Questions raised by Gabriel Solar presentation 

There were multiple points Tuesday night where Supervisor David Emert had to remind Gabriel Solar officials of what their packet said or how that contradicted their own presentation moments earlier. For example, in their introductory message, Gabriel officials said the solar panels would be manufactured by their partner First Solar in the U.S. and recycled here. However on the slide, it said First Solar had manufacturing facilities in Vietnam and Germany. 

“That’s not true,” Emert pointed out. “One or the other is wrong. Either it’s made here and recycled here or your slide is wrong.”

It turns out the slide was at least partly out of date, as Karen Drozdiak, Head of Sustainability for First Solar, then clarified that they used to have a manufacturing facility in Germany, with current ones in Malaysia, Vietnam and India. But that’s not what they had said in the opening statement, Emert pointed out. 

Then there was the issue of security. In the packet, it states a security fence no smaller than six feet high will enclose the solar panels and battery facility. However, in her part of the presentation, Gabriel Solar Associate Developer Jenna Wood said “there’s not a fence around this entire project. We fence very close to where the panels actually are.” The argument here was that limited fencing would create wildlife corridors. 

Emert again pointed out this didn’t match what was said in the packet. 

Michael Cook, Director of Development for Gabriel Solar’s parent company Energix, was asked if the energy generated by the solar farm would stay in Prince Edward County. He tried to say yes, arguing if you poured water into a water line in Farmville, then most of the water would be used in Farmville and it’s the same with this project. 

Emert again pointed out that’s not exactly true, as water will go anywhere. 

“Water goes anywhere it wants. It has no way, no serial number, no way of knowing where it goes,” Emert told the group. “So it’s impossible to tell me that this energy will be used in this community.” 

Cook acknowledged that’s true. All he could guarantee is that the energy would connect to the regional grid. He didn’t know where it would go afterwards. 

There was a lack of trust, residents said

This was part of the problem for residents, as one by one they came up and spoke. Nine total spoke in favor of the project on Tuesday night and 24 were opposed. Residents, in many cases neighbors of the property this project would be built on, said they couldn’t trust the claims made by Gabriel Solar or Energix. They saw too many potential problems and not nearly as many benefits. 

“There’s just too many things that can go wrong,” said Thomas Nelson. The 25-year Navy veteran, who lives near the property, said it’s not worth the risk. 

“It looks beautiful on paper. But we don’t live on paper. We live on the land. This land is not a sacred land, but it’s great land for us,” Nelson said. “This is a fairly new program, as far as electricity goes. Give it time. Something better will come down the road in the future.”  

Rachel Bowman said she wanted her daughter to be able to grow up running in the woods, hunting and fishing, without worrying about the “what ifs”. 

“I don’t want to have to worry about her or any of us getting exposed to harmful chemicals from these solar panels,” Bowman said. “I don’t want to instill in her mind an evacuation route if one of these battery packs are to ever catch fire and our community has to evacuate.”

She also pointed out that in order to build the solar farm, you’re going to be hauling in equipment and the roads aren’t capable of handling that. 

Shelia Harrison, meanwhile, argued that this was agricultural land, not the place to put such a massive commercial solar farm. And she is right, this was by far the largest solar farm proposal to come before Prince Edward officials. The solar panel portion would have stretched over 539 acres, east of New Bethel Road and on both sides of Falkland Road and Virso Road. 

And what about the violations? 

Residents also pointed to the problems Energix has had in counties like Buckingham, with multiple Department of Environmental Quality violations on much smaller projects. They also brought up the 46 current lawsuits where contractors are claiming Energix refused to pay them for work done. All of this didn’t add up to confidence in the company, speakers said. 

Prince Edward resident David Mayberry paraphrased Luke 16:10, saying that “if you’re faithful with the small things, you can be trusted with the big things.” The converse to that, Mayberry pointed out, is if you can’t be trusted with the small things, why should people trust you with larger things? 

Beyond last night, part of what concerned neighbors was the company’s track record. In 2024,  Energix was fined more than $100,000 for the third straight year by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality for violations at its Buckingham County site. 

And to be clear, the violations at the Buckingham County site are just part of a larger problem. In total, DEQ officials found 75 violations of state law at sites Energix owns in Buckingham, Henry, Sussex and Wythe counties, officials said in a May report. The Buckingham property, located at 23 Highrock Road, has been cited for multiple violations over the last few years. The facility sits on about 470 acres, which are split into five parcels near Route 60, and generates 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity.

But over the last few years, DEQ officials have found problems at the site like not stabilizing the slopes of stormwater basins, allowing erosion between solar panels and discharging sediment, which covered the on-site road in places. These past violations also covered some administrative tasks, like not performing required inspections and not having all controls in compliance. All of those were corrected once DEQ officials issued violation notices, but not before Energix was fined an estimated $350,000. 

On Tuesday night, Cook said these violations were the result of problems with contractors. And Energix’s response resulted in the lawsuits, he added. 

“We have withheld payment to subcontractors that did participate in these DEQ violations and so they then sue us to get those funds, when we see it as a breach of what was their performance in the contract.”   

An argument in favor  of Gabriel Solar

The supporters of Gabriel Solar showed up Tuesday night as well, saying they needed the project to go through. 

“Mainly my mom needs some kind of residual income,” Meherrin resident John Hogan told the board. “I see this as a way to keep the land, make it earn income.” 

His property used to be a dairy farm, Hogan said, but those days are long gone. However, if order for the family to keep the property, then they need for it to pay for itself. That’s how Hogan saw the land deal. 

Chris Woods saw the case as a property rights issue. 

“This is land that I own, property on New Bethel Road,” Woods said. “Personal property rights are to do as we see fit on our land that is in accordance with county ordinances and regulations. The solar project will not just benefit our family, but the entire county as well through taxes paid by the project company that can be used for schools, roads.” 

Supporters wanted the revenue promised, while the opposition didn’t want their homes to be damaged. 

A motion to deny 

In the end, it was Supervisor Llewellyn Gilliam Jr. that made the motion to reject the application. Gilliam, who also serves as the board’s liaison to the planning commission, said he’s heard the arguments for and against, but it’s time for a final decision. 

“ I’ve probably put more thought into this than anything in my life. And I usually tell everybody what I think, whether they like it or not,” Gilliam said. “Anybody that wants to talk to me about it they’re more than welcome to do it, I’ll explain every piece of it that’s been through my mind.” 

Other supervisors said it was a hard decision. 

“The definition of a really hard issue is when you change your mind every little while and you feel the pain people have,” Supervisor Cannon Watson said. “ I don’t think that much of these concerns will manifest itself. I don’t know this. But I also, I grew up on first avenue, this is a bigger county than  to take the money away from the people who want to benefit from it is really hard too. It’s a really hard issue.”