Houston County rejects solar panel farm offering a $300 million investment. Here’s why

Nashville-based Silicon Ranch offered a nearly $300 million investment with a proposed 4,700-acre solar farm in Kathleen, but that didn’t sway Houston County commissioners.

Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday against a special use permit for the solar farm in line with public outcry from naturalists and the community.

The property is next to the 13,300-acre Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area, which is home to a small population of about 300 black bears. The bears roam a larger territory of over 50,000 acres, including where female bears are known to den on the proposed solar farm property.

While Silicon Ranch had made efforts to show that the solar farm and bear population could co-exist, they still had “a ways to go” to satisfy concerns about the impact on the bears, other native fauna and flora and on rivers and creeks, Commissioner Gail Robinson noted.

She also expressed concerns about a legal dispute elsewhere involving Silicon Ranch and property damage caused by soil erosion.

The vote came after a nearly two-hour public hearing in a crowded room used mostly for jury selection in the Houston County Courthouse in Perry.

County Attorney Tom Hall said Silicon Ranch would have to wait one year before it could resubmit plans for a solar panel farm on the site.

The sole person to speak in favor of the solar farm was Matt Beasley, chief commercial officer for Silicon Ranch. He had asked commissioners to delay the vote for more time to dialogue with the public about the company’s plans for the site.

The company will have to regroup before deciding its next step, Beasley said after the meeting.

During the meeting, Beasley touted the company’s existing Houston Solar Project in Elko that includes a lambing barn.

He noted that the Houston Solar Project received the North American Agrivoltaics Award for “Solar Ranch of the Year” at the 2024 Solar Farm Summit. The solar farm can be seen from Interstate 75.

Beasley told commissioners that the proposed solar farm in Kathleen and the bear population could not only co-exist but also thrive.

Only about half of the 4,700 acres of the proposed solar farm in Kathleen would house solar panels, and existing natural buffers of timber would remain to allow wildlife to roam freely over the site, according to Beasley. About 700 acres are wetlands, he added.

The solar farm would represent a $300 million investment in Houston County, and generate $700,000 a year over the life of the project, which is typically 40 years, Beasley said.

Commissioners next heard from opponents, starting with a video on black bears presented by Ben Carr, a University of Georgia master’s degree student. He studies the state’s three bear populations, including the bears in Oaky Woods.

“I think any loss of habitation is a cause for concern for a population that is already struggling,” Carr told commissioners.

Ray Jones, a retired area manager for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, who also monitored the local bear population, concurred.

“I don’t think this project is good for our bears or wildlife in general,” said Jones, who noted that once that bear habitat is gone, “it’s gone forever.”

Kathleen resident Ed Varner noted that Houston County’s comprehensive land development plan only allows for a special use permit as long as the proposed use does not cause any adverse effects.

Varner noted a lawsuit a Stewart County couple won against Silicon Ranch for damage to their property from inadequate erosion controls at the Lumpkin Solar Facility. The jury awarded the couple $135 million in damages, but the judge later reduced the award to $5 million.

Several others spoke against the solar farm, with similar concerns about the black bears, Oaky Woods, the groundwater, soil erosion and property values.

With more hands raised for an opportunity to speak in opposition, the public hearing was closed for a vote.