A proposed 100-megawatt solar farm and 50-megawatt battery facility is on schedule to be built in the town of Morgan, and townspeople are worried.
According to documents provided by the state Public Service Commission, the proposed site would consist of 648.9 acres of land near CCC Road and County Road C.
David Behrend, an Oconto County supervisor who represents the town of Morgan, has concerns about the personal safety of neighbors near the proposed solar farm, and if neighboring landowners would bear financial burdens in a crisis.
“I encourage people to ask two questions,” Behrend said. “Will my home insurance company cover damages and evacuation costs if an emergency happens at the proposed solar farm, and would I face point-of-pollution liabilities and cleanup costs, if contaminants from the proposed solar farm entered my property?”
Nikki Coopman, whose home and business would be surrounded by the proposed solar farm, said she knows the answer to those questions.
“My insurance company would offer absolutely zero help if those giant lithium batteries started on fire and we had to flee the toxic smoke,” Coopman said, “and if my property burned to the ground from a fire started by the proposed solar farm, my insurance would cover nothing. I checked. I asked them and they said ‘No.’ If contaminants from the proposed solar farm ended up on my property, I would be responsible to pay for cleanup, if particulates from a toxic smoke plume landed on my soil, it would be me responsible to pay for it.”
Coopman owns and operates K-9 Creations, a local dog kennel neighboring the proposed solar farm site. She provides temporary housing and offers services like boarding, daycare, grooming, and training.
“This solar farm would destroy my life as I know it,” Coopman said. “I poured my life into my business, and now global investment groups want to surround my property with destructive solar panels.”
Project threat to local business
Coopman fears that the proposed solar farm will prevent her from operating her business.
“I will not be able to operate my business once they start the two-year building process for the solar farm,” Coopman said. “The heavy equipment and hammering and vibrations will drive the dogs absolutely crazy. It will hurt them. There’s no way that my business could stay open.”
Once the building process is complete, Coopman still has doubts as to if the dogs would be able to live at the current facility.
“Dogs are sensitive,” she said. “The invisible electronic radio waves and humming coming off all those panels — dogs can hear that. It will drive them crazy.”
Coopman could relocate her business, but she also doubts if the purchase price of her property will amount to much.
“How can I sell it? My heart and soul is on this property,” Coopman said with tears in her eyes, “and even if I do sell, it won’t be worth much. Who wants to buy a postage stamp in a sea of solar panels?”
$10K offered to be good neighbor
Joshua Sutrick, who owns the family farm he grew up on, was confronted by representatives of the proposed solar farm.
“They asked me to sign a good neighbor contract,” Sutrick said, “because I live next to the proposed solar farm.”
Representatives of the proposed solar farm offered Sutrick nearly $10,000 if he would sign the good neighbor contract, he said.
“I told them to take the piece of paper and shove it up their (expletive deleted),” Sutrick said. “How dare they offer me money to destroy my family legacy. Shame on them.”
A good neighbor contract, as Sutrick understands, would legally forbid the signatory from pursuing a lawsuit against the proposed solar farm, or from saying anything negative about the proposed solar farm, in person or online.
Dave Wirtz, whose property would be surrounded on three sides by panels, said that he is favorable toward renewable energy, just not in the town of Morgan.
“I’m not against solar energy,” Wirtz said, “but not here in Morgan. Why do we need to waste excellent farmland here in Wisconsin, when there are useless desert places out west? It doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Behrend is also confused about why the proposed land for the proposed solar farm was chosen.
“Just a few years ago, in 2017, an owner of the proposed land for the proposed solar farm invested a considerable amount of money to install a high-capacity well and an irrigation system on that land,” Behrend said. “It doesn’t make sense to now put gravel and concrete on that prime piece of agriculture.”
Letters offer to buy land
Curt Birr, who owns land miles away from the proposed solar farm, recently received a letter postmarked from Florida.
“Just last week, I got a letter from Florida offering me cash to buy my land,” Birr said. “I thought all the land needed for these projects had been gotten already, but I guess there’s more to come.”
It is uncertain if the source of this letter is related to the company building the proposed solar farm.
“I also got a postcard from the company of the proposed solar farm,” Birr said. “That postcard had information about an upcoming coffee chat, it too, was postmarked from Florida.”
Birr says that he is not the only townsperson to receive an offer letter postmarked from Florida.
“My brother, who owns property inside the Machickanee forest,” Birr said, “he, too, received an offer letter from Florida.”
It is uncertain if the sources of these letters are related to the company building the proposed solar farm.
Program could have halted farm
Behrend stated that, since 2015, many industrial-minded projects have been completed or proposed in the town.
“In 2015, the elected leadership of Morgan, who also served on the county board, made the decision to do away with the Farmland Preservation Program in the town,” Behrend said.
According to the map of the proposed solar farm provided by the Public Service Commission and the Oconto County plat book, the elected town leaders who allegedly made the decision to halt the Farmland Preservation Program, own property contained in or bordering the proposed solar farm.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection states on its website that the Farmland Preservation Program helps farmers and local governments “preserve farmland, protect soil and water, and minimize land use conflicts.”
The Farmland Preservation Program allows local governments to develop zoning districts that would prevent the transformation of farmland into industry.
“The very industrial high-power electrical transmission lines, and this proposed solar farm,” Behrend said, “could never have happened if the town’s elected leadership in 2015 would have left the Farmland Preservation Program alone.”
Recently, many townspeople received the October issue of a publication mailed to the customers of Oconto Electric Cooperative, it featured a four-page article on data centers.
The article “How Data Centers Strengthen Communities and Cooperatives,” Wisconsin Energy Cooperative News, highlighted a new data center that was built near Hager City in Pierce County.
As for now, no plans for a future data center in Oconto County have been made public by any party. Some townspeople are worried about the future possibility, after receiving the magazine in their mailbox.
“I received the magazine in my mailbox,” Coopman said, “and after reading the article about data centers in Wisconsin I’m concerned that the proposed solar farm is just the beginning.”
The article stated “data center demand and growth are exploding in Wisconsin” and the featured data center “is partly served by a 2-megawatt solar facility that feeds into the neighboring substation.”
The article also stated that some data centers currently being built in Wisconsin require 1,000 megawatts of electricity, and that data centers not only need extreme amounts of electricity but also “need cooling systems.”
No plans for a future data center in Oconto County have been made public by any party.
The proposed solar farm may break ground in 2027 with an estimated in-service date of 2028.
nate.birr.news@gmail.com
