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With more solar farms in the works, West Baton Rouge leaders move to require permits
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:03 am
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:03 am

This giant facility near Rosedale, LA (west of Port Allen) has a ONE employee.
quote:
With more solar farms in the works, West Baton Rouge leaders move to require permits
BY YOUSSEF RDDAD | STAFF WRITER JAN 14, 2021
The Advocate
Solar energy farm builders will now need to submit their plans before building in West Baton Rouge Parish after the parish council approved a measure Thursday that would give them more oversight on those projects.
Parish leaders last month halted solar plant construction because of concerns touching mainly on how the project would impact the parish's aesthetics. The council on Thursday unanimously passed an ordinance that requires companies to seek permits anytime they want to build on land zoned as agricultural.
"We're basically here tonight to protect both the landowner, the developer and the resident," said council member Alan Crowe, whose district includes the area where a newly proposed solar plant would go.
quote:
Because the parish lacked any rules on where a solar farm can be built, developers were not required to submit plans when building on land zoned as agricultural.
The new ordinance also gives the council the ability to set certain rules and require studies or further information for solar projects.
Helios, the company managing Capital Region Solar, said it's planning to build fences to screen the facility and address other public responses it's received.
The parish council also lifted a temporary ban on solar farm construction that it had passed last month.
According to the filing submitted to the Louisiana Economic Development, the latest project is estimated to cost about $240 million, with construction starting in 2022 and finishing at the end of the following year. It’s expected to bring 430 temporary construction jobs and create one permanent position once completed.
Baby step towards actually controlling some of these hideous facilities that are entirely dependent on tax credits from the state.
Solar far on Rosedale Road (west of Port Allen)

quote:
The company also submitted plans for two similar projects in Pride and East Feliciana Parish.
Solar energy is becoming more prevalent throughout the state, a trend driven largely by a steep price reduction in solar panel material.
Entergy, for example, has increasingly looked to solar power projects to meet rising energy demands. The company seeks to add up to 300 megawatts of solar resources by 2023.
About 25% of electricity Entergy customers receive comes from carbon-free sources, including nuclear, hydroelectric and other sources.
With that trend likely to continue, officials in West Baton Rouge Parish say they had little information or guidance to when Capital Region Solar was built.
District 2 Council Member Chris "Fish" Kershaw said he would like to see the council address specific stipulations at a later date, such as buffers and other requirements for solar farms.
Full article at the link above.
Solar is clean energy, but it's output/footprint ratio is way too low to be an ideal source of base load generation (not to mention that it doesn't generate anything at night). It takes up way too much space for what it produces.
It really is time for West Baton Rouge to consider itself a suburban parish rather than a rural one. Otherwise out of state companies like this will take advantage of it - occupying vast amount of space and creating almost 0 jobs. We need to make better use of land that doesn't flood in this state.
Solar tax credits provided by the state should be geared towards home and business owners that are willing to add the equipment to buildings, warehouses, etc. where they aren't wasting space.
This post was edited on 1/15/21 at 8:11 am
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:06 am to goofball
quote:
Baby step towards actually controlling some of these hideous facilities that are entirely dependent on tax credits from the state.
Wait they let you install these with no AHJ oversight?
I've deployed millions of GWh of solar and never experienced this. That's insane, but there would at least be some interconnection processes.
This post was edited on 1/15/21 at 8:07 am
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:07 am to goofball
quote:
permits
aka racketeering
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:10 am to goofball
quote:
the parish's aesthetics
I promise this was not a concern. What was a concern is that the solar farm builder had not greased all of the right palms.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:14 am to goofball
WBR is a little too close to a large (for Louisiana) city for this. They should install these in places like Avoyelles or Concordia where no one will ever need land for residential or industrial developments. Or on top of existing or planned buildings like the new Amazon warehouses.
On the bright side, no one will complain if the state needs to run a highway by pass through there.
On the bright side, no one will complain if the state needs to run a highway by pass through there.

Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:16 am to dewster
quote:
WBR is a little too close to a large (for Louisiana) city for this. They should install these in places like Avoyelles or Concordia where no one will ever need land for residential or industrial developments.
A lot goes into picking locations, from GHI to grid logistics. I won't pretend to know why for this project but typically the earlier projects exploit the most favorable conditions.
This post was edited on 1/15/21 at 8:18 am
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:20 am to dewster
frick you, don't ruin those parishes for this BS. Go use worthless pine plantation land for it. Not prime row crop land.
It is laughable that people think solar is green.
It is laughable that people think solar is green.
This post was edited on 1/15/21 at 8:22 am
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:24 am to GREENHEAD22
quote:
frick you, don't ruin those parishes for this BS. Go use worthless pine plantation land for it. Not prime row crop land.
It is laughable that people think solar is green.
Or maybe let the land owner decide what how they want their land to be used.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:35 am to billjamin
Where did I say they shouldn't?
On another note I would love to see the contract in regards to site demo and cleanup. The technology they are putting in these fields will be obsolete in a very short time and are currently not even economical and require tax breaks to be justified. I would be willing to bet there are going to be some landowners with a rude awakening when they are no longer getting money for the solar farm and want to turn it back into Ag.
On another note I would love to see the contract in regards to site demo and cleanup. The technology they are putting in these fields will be obsolete in a very short time and are currently not even economical and require tax breaks to be justified. I would be willing to bet there are going to be some landowners with a rude awakening when they are no longer getting money for the solar farm and want to turn it back into Ag.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:37 am to GREENHEAD22
quote:
Go use worthless pine plantation land for it. Not prime row crop land.
Have to 100% agree here. These groups are targeting the best and most fertile land in the state for solar developments.
There has to be some low producing/pasture land (not wetlands) better suited for these projects.
Green energy is great except when you are permanently destroying land that was producing a net carbon consuming agricultural crop.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:38 am to goofball
quote:
solar farms
Do they require a lot of rain? How many solars to a bushel? What's the market price for solars? How do they taste?
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:39 am to GREENHEAD22
quote:
On another note I would love to see the contract in regards to site demo and cleanup.
I don't know about these in LA but all the TX Solar and Wind contracts I've seen use similar language to O&L leases and cover this.
quote:
The technology they are putting in these fields will be obsolete in a very short time
What do you consider a very short time? I don't believe 25 years is a short time.
quote:
require tax breaks to be justified.
Some do, some don't. You can't make a blanket statement on this.
quote:
I would be willing to bet there are going to be some landowners with a rude awakening when they are no longer getting money for the solar farm and want to turn it back into Ag.
This happens with O&G lease as well.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:40 am to goofball
Classic BR, get investment from outside the area and immediately put a halt to it until the local leaders get their kickbacks
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:41 am to billjamin
quote:
maybe let the land owner decide what how they want their land to be used.
That’s great except when the land owner is a large, out of state conglomerate that has little to no regard for the welfare of the people in this parish/state.
I’m glad to see WBR stepping up. These things impact a significant area around them and often the land owner has little to no concern about its surroundings.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:42 am to goofball
There is a very large one being built in Albany right now
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:44 am to billjamin
Not for a O&G lease in the past 30 yrs. A nearly nineties Louisiana passed a law in regards to site clean up and remediation. Conversely there are no laws in Louisiana in regards to solar farms.
They will be obsolete a whole lot sooner than 25 years.
And regardless there's nothing green about a solar farm, It is a net carbon gain, especially when you put it in a previous agriculture areas.
They will be obsolete a whole lot sooner than 25 years.
And regardless there's nothing green about a solar farm, It is a net carbon gain, especially when you put it in a previous agriculture areas.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:45 am to GREENHEAD22
quote:
They will be obsolete a whole lot sooner than 25 years.
link?
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:46 am to stewie
quote:
That’s great except when the land owner is a large, out of state conglomerate that has little to no regard for the welfare of the people in this parish/state.
I'm never cool with the government dictating what people do on their land regardless of the owner.
And most of these are leased not owned in my experience.
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:48 am to GREENHEAD22
quote:
They will be obsolete a whole lot sooner than 25 years.
They will produce less energy over time and will eventually be abandoned or rebuilt.
If abandoned, how does this get cleaned up?
Posted on 1/15/21 at 8:49 am to billjamin
Do some research on a photovoltaic technology. The majority of the solar industry is a money losing scam and a environmental waste.
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