Vital Information EVERY Group Trying to Stop a Solar Project Needs to Read.

[David H]

Post Shared By: Facebook User David Herman in the Facebook Group: Stop Solar Farms
September 14, 2020

While this letter deals with some information related to one specific state, it has vital information EVERY group trying to stop a solar project, needs to read.
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Rowan County Citizens for Responsible Solar
August 26, 2020
To whom it may concern:
Over the past five years, people from all across North Carolina (and the US) have been calling me to assist them in their struggle to ward off Solar Farm applications that would destroy their communities.
These Solar projects are quite large, often covering thousands of acres of rich farmland. The folks call me because of the solar movement that I initiated in NC in 1980 when I designed and built the NCSU Solar House for research and educational purposes.

The Solar House was open to the public for 30 years, educating thousands of North Carolinians on the wonders of solar hot water and space heating systems. Forty years ago, solar meant hot water and space heating.

Today, in most people’s mind, solar means power (solar generated electricity). Therefore, when someone speaks about solar energy today, it is important to specify which type of solar energy he/she is referring to.

Over the past year, I have been working with the folks in Rowan County to educate them on the various aspects of the Solar Farm Industry. They had just learned about a new Solar Farm planned for their community and they didn’t want to see a 400 acre forest cut down to make room for solar panels.

In the process of assisting them, I discovered that they could have had an opportunity to express their opposition to the Solar Farm project earlier, if they had known about the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) process.

This is the first step that a solar developer must take if he wishes to construct a Solar Farm. And, this should be the first opportunity that citizens have to intervene if they oppose the proposed project.

Unfortunately, the CPCN process is not well advertised and citizens never hear about it. Consequently, North Carolina’s citizens have essentially been excluded from this process entirely. And, the first they hear about the proposed Solar Farm is when the Solar Developer schedules a Hearing for project approval with the County Commissioners. And by then, the citizens have little time to prepare their opposition to the proposed project.

The Solar Farm Industry is a secret society that does most of its work behind closed doors. They work quietly/secretly with County Commissioners and County Planning Departments for 1 – 2 years, educating them on the wonders of Solar Electricity from their point of view. Only when that groundwork is accomplished, do the local citizens learn about the project. And by then, it is often too late.

In the process of working with the Rowan folks, I found out that citizens have an opportunity to intervene at these CPCN Hearings. However, as stated above, the citizens never hear of these CPCN Hearings before the NC Utilities Commission.

Upon checking with the Public Staff, I learned that of all the CPCN Hearings for Solar Farms across North Carolina, there have never been any interveners. – None, Zero, Nada, Nichts! Do you think that is simply a coincidence? Or, do you think, just maybe, that something untoward is going on.

Having uncovered a process that is clearly intended to eliminate citizen input, my friend and colleague Lawrence Watts, Jr. of Greenville, NC and I decided that we would test the process.

Mr. Watts is a retired electrical engineer who had worked in the electric utility for many years. Mr. Watts went through considerable trouble to finally get an opportunity to test the “intervenor” process.

He applied to intervene at the CPCN Hearing for big solar farm in Halifax County scheduled for 7 pm on March 24. The people in attendance at the “Zoom” hearing were:
1.A Staff Attorney with the NC Utilities Commission,
2. The Attorney for the Solar Farm Applicant, and
3. Megan Jost, another Staff Attorney and Mr. Lawrence’s main contact in setting up his intervenor role.

The hearing began promptly at 7 pm. At 7:01 pm, Mr. Lawrence was told that he had 5 minutes to speak. There were no other intervenors. It is not clear why his speaking time should be so tightly controlled.

In his comments, he talked about the cost of power for Greenville residents, about peak demand, and capacity factor, … And, then he was told that his time was up…. and his phone was disconnected. He received no follow-up questions from the staff attorney or the Applicant’s attorney. And, he was unable to know if the Utilities Commission Staff Attorney and the Solar Farm Attorney had any follow-up conversation that may have occurred and if the CPCN had been approved.

It appears that Mr. Watts may have been the only intervenor in the History of the North Carolina CPCN Solar Farm process.

This is how Government of, by and for the people works in North Carolina in the year 2020.
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Dr. Herbert M. Eckerlin, Emeritus Professor
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695
Email: eckerlin1935@gmail.com
Cell: 919.812.4646 Office: 919.787.5682
"Let everything you do be done as if it makes a difference."