PSC approves 100MW Dodge County solar farm over local opposition

Wisconsin regulators approved a developer’s plans on Thursday to build a 100-megawatt solar farm in Dodge County over objections from local government officials and residents.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission voted unanimously to approve a permit for the Springfield Solar Farm, a project that will occupy more than 800 acres north of the village of Lomira. The solar farm is one of a series of large solar projects the commission has taken up in recent years as utilities invest heavily in renewable energy.

The project, however, drew near-unanimous opposition from both residents and the village of Lomira, which had used a 2005 planning document to designate a section of the solar farm for a possible industrial use.

National Grid Renewables, of Bloomington, Minnesota, hopes to begin construction on the Springfield Solar Farm next year after first proposing the project last summer.

Because Geronimo Energy developed the Lomira solar farm as a so-called merchant plant, the PSC considered only whether the project’s design and location were in the public interest. The commission is considering the need for the project and economic considerations in a separate case in which Alliant Energy has applied to purchase power produced by the solar farm. The project is part of the utility’s aim to develop more than 1,000 megawatts of renewable energy by 2023.

Because the Springfield Solar project would generate 100 megawatts of energy, the responsibility for approving the development fell on the commission. Projects of fewer than 100 megawatts instead must win local approval. Commissioners said that requirement further complicated the project’s approval.

“When you come to us with a project of 100 megawatts, right at the cusp, to me we have authority, but we have to use that judiciously,” Huebner said.

Besides the opposition from residents, the village of Lomira objected to the solar development, arguing that it will conflict with a 2005 planning document that envisioned future uses for a 65-acre parcel of the project that will fall within the village’s limits. Another 200 acres of the project area that the village of Lomira envisioned for industrial use lie within the town of Lomira, outside its purview. The village argued that it had designated the property for future industrial uses — and that a solar development didn’t fit with that plan.

Although an industrial use has yet to be found for the property, the village installed sewer and water service at the property in 2019 in the hopes of attracting an industrial user.

“With all of the amenities: location, topography, transportation, economy, interest rates, work force, etc., there is every reason for optimism that large-scale industrial development will occur in short order,” according to a brief from the village. “These lands are clearly more desirable than any other industrial land in the village.”

The PSC commissioners, however, noted that the village hasn’t entertained a serious offer from an industrial user of the land in recent years. They also noted that the village’s 2005 plan for the property was out of date. Typically, comprehensive plans that local governments in Wisconsin produce are revised every 10 years.

Meanwhile, two landowners own the bulk of the property within the project area and have agreed to sell the land to the developer, instead of leasing it. Commissioner Ellen Nowak said the village’s previous decision to designate the property as a potential industrial property shouldn’t override the rights of landowners to sell their properties.

“These are not easy decisions at all because you struggle with the property rights, and what a local land use wants,” she said. “I think the entities coming in that are developing these must work very closely for a long time with the localities. But also, municipalities, they need to update their plan. We can’t go back and fix something for them. Maybe this is a wake-up call for them.” Follow @natebeck9