What’s going on
on Mackeys Lane?
Elsewhere in the world – even elsewhere in the state of Virginia – there are acres of glistening blue rectangles, blanketing the flat or gently rolling land. They glint in the sun as their photovoltaic cells absorb the energy to create an electric current.
From a birds-eye-view, these solar farms look somewhat like a quilt, patchworked over the land, mechanically tilting to follow the sun in a unison that is almost poetic.
But here in Rockbridge County, a birds-eye-view of the land is green, not blue. It is a different kind of quilt, with individual parcels of agricultural land stitched next to one another, peppered with houses and barns.
“It’s a million-dollar-view,”
says one resident of the area.
But the view of the lush, rural countryside might change soon, if a 25-acre solar array called a “shared solar project” is approved for a parcel of land off Mackeys Lane in Fairfield.
And while different reasons pulled these families to Fairfield, like thread pulling fabric together, they all agree on one thing: the agricultural land should stay agricultural.
They don’t want the green land replaced with blue. They don’t want the panels degrading their beautiful views of the sunrise and sunset, the cows and the corn. They don’t want their home values to decrease, and they don’t want the noise and traffic that construction will bring.
“It’s God’s country,”
says another. “It’s paradise.”
Solar panels will fill 25 acres of this field if the project is approved.
And yet, Virginia needs solar to meet the requirements of a 2020 state law. In fact, the world needs solar, as extreme weather increases and can be attributed, in part, to the emissions of carbon from power generation.
Virginia is requiring Dominion Energy to generate power entirely from renewable sources by 2050, a mere 28 years away. This project would help the company meet that goal.
But is this the right location for solar? Residents say no, resoundingly. Still, solar facilities have to go somewhere, even if no one wants them directly in their backyard.
The county planning commission is considering all of these facets as they decide whether to recommend this proposal to the Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors.
Follow the debate over Rockbridge shared solar by clicking through our website.