GROTON — Nearly two dozen people commented Thursday on a plan to create an 800-acre, 160-megawatt, $200 million solar facility in Groton and Lansing, debating the loss of farmland with the potential to create jobs.
The gymnasium at Groton High School was packed as dozens of residents gathered to comment on the largest planned solar project in the greater Cortland area.
“I find it a travesty that highly productive farm land will be forever taken out of production to fulfill a pipe dream that solar energy will fill our energy needs,” Groton Supervisor Don Scheffler said.
The Yellow Barn Solar Project would build an 850-acre, 160-megawatt solar energy facility. The project, led by New Jersey-based CS Energy, would produce enough power for around 35,000 over the next 40 years, the company claims. It would encompass 685 acres in Groton and 165 acres in Lansing.
“I understand it’s an allowed use by town zoning, but I don’t think anyone anticipated 800 acres and if this is put right next to the other one that may come online we’re talking about 1,800 acres pretty much continuous solar panel,” said Tompkins County Legislator Mike Sigler (R-Lansing). “That’s just enormous, nothing in this state has seen that kind of size.”
“Between this project and the next one that's been proposed right beside it at the same size, we stand to lose 13% of our working crop land to those projects, which has to be made up somewhere somehow.” said John Fleming, owner and manager of Walnut Ridge Dairy in Lansing.
However, members of Laborers’ Local 785 in Ithaca expressed support over the potential new jobs.
"As New York State continues its transition into a green economy, projects like this create well-paying jobs, non-exploitable jobs, that directly benefit our local workforce.” said Michael Dundon, vice president of Local Laborers 785. “In 2023, New York ranked fourth nationally in solar industry jobs, demonstrating the strength and potential of this sector.”
“The skills learned here will allow workers to build successful careers in one of the fast growing industries of the state,” said Joshua Ost, a field representative for the local.
But if the jobs are good, the area won’t reap enough benefits, others said.
“That’s probably the biggest investment Groton has ever seen and and I would like to see that support our schools and support our highway department, and not leave us taxpayers to bear that burden alone,” said Mildred Warner, who lives next to the project.
“If we don't have the support of the local people, I’d like to see CS energy do something to gain their trust,” added Tompkins County IDA Board Member Todd Bruer.
“We’d like to see a better coordination with impacted farmers,” said Guillermo Metz, a representative of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County.
“We've heard from affected farmers who would like to plan to harvest one last crop before the development breaks ground, but they've been unable to get a clear timeline from developers.” Metz said. “We understand that timelines may not be firm, but better coordination may help the farmers adjust their operations accordingly.”
“Folks raised, for the most part, very valid concerns that it's up to us to work with the town and the state to address,” said Mitch Quine, vice president of project development for CS Energy, adding the company is working with the town and state on determining setbacks..
“In terms of a finish date, you know we're probably more out in the 2027 time frame at this point you know we certainly were delayed a little bit as we revised our application to respond to ORES’ notice of incomplete application, so that took more time than was anticipated,” Quine said. He expects site preparation by the end of the year.
“I started out on day one personally not liking this project but as supervisor always considering
the best interest of the entire town of Groton,” Scheffler said. “I have not changed my mind. If it smells like a dead rat, it's probably a dead rat.”
