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They need more time before a final decision can be made. That was the majority opinion reached Tuesday night, as the Prince Edward Planning Commission agreed to table discussion on the proposed Gabriel Solar project. 

The proposal is by far the biggest one to come before Prince Edward officials. It would stretch over 539 acres, for a 80 megawatt solar farm and 120 megawatt battery storage facility. The sheer size of the project, combined with concerns about everything from fire safety to the track record of Gabriel Solar’s parent company Energix in nearby Buckingham, made a majority of commission members want to press pause, to continue reading and researching the material available before reaching a decision. 

“I feel like at least it should be tabled for us to look at this information,” said commission member Teresa Sandlin. “One side says everything is this way and the other side believes it’s this way so it’s only fair I believe to research, to read and follow up on.” 

A question of fire for Gabriel Solar

A major concern, and one that’s been echoed in multiple solar meetings this year, is the fact there’s still not a clear and defined way of how to put them out, if one of the panels catches on fire. With Gabriel Solar, the concern is elevated a bit, because in addition to the solar panels, you’re also having to consider the lithium ion batteries in storage. 

“If one of these things catches on fire, I want to know what we’re gonna do with it and how we’re gonna do it before it catches the one beside it on fire and the next one on fire,” said Prince Edward Supervisor and liaison to the commission Llew Gilliam Jr. “Henry (Womack) and me, we’ve been firemen for 45 plus years and we’ve seen these videos with these lithium ion battery cars that are burning. What are we gonna do with these things?” 

No one from Gabriel Solar could provide an answer, as far as how to address the fire, other than to step back. Standard procedure in these cases has been for local firefighters to establish a perimeter around the solar panels and keep the fire contained, while contacting the company. A national option involves using a specialized extinguishing chemical like F-500 Encapsulator Agent, but that’s not cheap, as it has to be premixed and proportioned at a 3% solution.

Fire safety is something both planning commission and supervisors have asked about with companies in the past, for a clear defined method to put out the fire and training for local firefighters, so they know the procedure. 

Concerns about Energix 

Beyond fire, there were safety concerns raised during the public hearing about the track record of Gabriel’s parent company. The Arlington-based Gabriel Solar is a subsidiary of Energix, which earlier in 2024 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 like not stabilizing the slopes of stormwater basins in the area, 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. 

That’s the problem, neighboring residents said. It’s not that they’re anti-solar. It’s the company in question that raises concerns. 

“I used to monitor and evaluate contracts at the Pentagon,” said Falkland Road resident David Mayberry, who said Energix officials told him when violations like the ones in Buckingham happen, they fire the subcontractors involved. “I know that when you have multiple subcontractors having problems over multiple years, that points to a problem with the parent company. I have great concerns for a company that can’t do DEQ regulations, (that is) now managing and maintaining and operating this system so it lasts for 40 years.” 

More about the Gabriel Solar project 

The project itself would be roughly 11 miles south of Farmville and about 2 miles east of Route 15. It would be, by far, the largest solar project taken on in Prince Edward. To give a comparison, previous solar projects in Prince Edward, especially recent ones, have come nowhere close to this size. The CEP solar projects approved back in July by the Prince Edward supervisors, were 170.8 and 81.2, respectively. Then there was North Branch Solar, which includes 40 acres used on a 147.5 acre piece of land. This one, meanwhile, would be 539 acres used on a piece of land stretching more than 800 acres, with 110,000 panels. It’s also worth pointing out that unlike some of the other solar projects that still need to negotiate or build a substation, this piece of land already has one that connects with Dominion. 

It’s so large, in fact, that Prince Edward County would not be responsible for monitoring the stormwater issues, like the ones which led to violations in Buckingham County. 

“It’s too big,” said Prince Edward Planner Robert Love. “It would go to DEQ.” 

So the state agency would be responsible for monitoring the stormwater issues of the operation, not the county. 

If approved, the site would be accessible through New Bethel, Virso and Falkland roads, with a six-foot fence around it to hide from both neighbors and the roadway. As for construction concerns, building everything would take between 9 to 12 months, with an average of 16 trucks coming in and out every day. During the six-month peak construction period, Gabriel Solar officials say, residents could expect 60 trips per day from trucks. 

Landowners come in support 

Multiple landowners who are leasing their property to Gabriel Solar, spoke up at the hearing about why they support the project. The main argument was that this is needed, both by the county and for each on an individual level. 

“We own a farm (and) we want to keep the farm in our family, but with rising tax costs and all that, the farm has to maintain itself,” said John Hogan. “This is a real way to keep our farm solid. We’re not covering up the whole farm, we’re not taking up a lot of our farm land, it’s hilly, it’s rocky. We can’t farm it anyway.” 

This project would help the farm both short and long term, Hogan said. Then at the end of the lease in 40 years, the farm has the potential to be in a better spot than it is now. 

Edna Banton pointed out that Prince Edward County could use the money, with renovation projects both now and some to come. 

“I think one thing this brings is revenue to the county, which I think we could use desperately, fixing the school and different things,” Banton said. “I’m a firm believer that everything new we’ve gotten in this country or anywhere started with people kicking against it because it was something new, we’ve never seen it, it’s dangerous.” 

As for financial impact on the county, the numbers are significantly higher than other recent proposals. For CEP Solar, Prince Edward got one-time payments of $120,000 and $75,000. CEP Solar also agreed in that deal to pay $1,400 per megawatt generated for each site annually. That’s $11,200 for the 8 megawatt site and $7,000 for the 5 megawatt site, combined for a total of $18,200 each year coming in. 

While the specifics of a siting agreement haven’t been agreed to yet with the county, the initial report for this Gabriel Solar site on Falkland Road would total more than $150,000 each year, with the potential for a one-time payment of more than $1 million.

As it stands, the battery storage component, which would cover six acres by itself, increases the value of the proposed project. County staff estimates that there would be a few million dollars of capital improvement invested up front. It also has the potential to generate more than $150,000 in annual revenue for the county, after a siting agreement has been negotiated.

So what happens next?

Now the planning commission continues the discussion, moving forward to talk about it in their January 2025 meeting. 

“Solar is a challenge,” Planning Commission Chairman John Prengaman said. “It’s a challenge for us as a board to discuss this, because it’s something five years ago we didn’t even talk about here. We don’t claim to be the experts, we go through this as much as possible so we understand what every solar company does here.”