HUNTINGTON COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – Huntington County Commissioners have paused the industrial solar projects Monday during a special meeting. They plan to have further discussions with the Huntington County Plan Commission before moving forward with the project. It has caused an uproar in the rural community. Many residents voiced their concerns to commissioners, and as WANE 15 first reported last week, many felt they hadn’t been heard.
EDF Renewables, who is heading the project, spoke with WANE 15 Wednesday about how they feel about the halt.
Jesse Laniak, development manger for EDF Renewables says despite the pause in the project, they are pleased to even be a part of it. He added they are open to having discussions with residents about what needs to be changed.
EDF Renewables says there is important information they would like Huntington residents to know.
They say only a small portion of farmland is being taken out of production. Between Huntington and Wells counties, the project in total is 3,419 acres which is around 5.3 square miles. EDF Renewables says they have made sure the fence line is not on the perimeter of the leased acreage.
“So the actual fenced area that is taken out of production is 1,800 acres, which represents 1,450 acres in Wells County and 357 in Huntington,” said Laniak. “The statistic I want everyone to remember here is that’s only point .6% of farmland in Wells County, and about .15% of farmland in Huntington County.”
EDF Renewables added that only 42% of that fenced area will actually have panels on it, the rest of the area is for spacing so the panels can tilt.
Below Laniak explains how solar panels work:
If Huntington County Commissioners continue with the project, the start of operation would be around 2027 or 2028.
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