BOS, solar developers still negotiating

Published 8:00 am Friday, May 20, 2022

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Lunenburg County’s back and forth siting agreement with Red Brick Solar could soon come to an end. In fact, the project itself could be ending.

The Board of Supervisors (BOS) has until June 2022 to take action on an application for the development of the 130 MW facility by Apex Clean Energy of Charlottesville and SolUnesco of Reston.

On Thursday, May 10, County Attorney Frank Rennie informed the BOS during its monthly meeting that developers of the Red Brick Solar had met with two members of the Boards Financial Committee to discuss the siting agreement further.

“So far, no one has heard anything back from Red Brick,” Rennie said. “One way or another, the Board is going to have to have to take action on the application at the June meeting.”

Last fall, the BOS tabled the decision on Conditional Use Permit for Red Brick, citing ongoing negotiations of a siting agreement.

The siting agreement legislation intends to allow the local governments to address specific community needs and allow the solar project developer to help address those needs.

The siting agreement may include terms and conditions including mitigation of any impacts of such solar facility; financial compensation to address the locality’s capital needs as set out in the locality’s capital improvement plan, its current fiscal budget, or its fiscal funds balance policy; or assistance with deploying broadband in the locality.

On Monday, May 16, Vice President of Public Affairs Dahvi Wilson with Apex Clean Energy said the company was working on requests from the county.

“We are working diligently to accommodate the county’s most recent requests,” Wilson said. “We are hopeful we will be able to come to a mutually agreeable outcome within the next month.”

Wilson did not elaborate on the exact details of the siting agreement or the county’s specific request.