By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Right now, planning commissions and governing bodies within Barton County are receiving plenty of public input regarding commercial solar development in the county. Acciona Energy has proposed the construction of two solar-powered electric generation facilities using panels to produce 150 megawatts from each project. The location of the project is northeast of Great Bend, near Cheyenne Bottoms, the wetlands home to millions of birds during their migratory trips.
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U.S. Senator Jerry Moran was in Great Bend last Friday and supports the utilization of solar or wind energy but location should play a role in decisions.
"Where they're located really does matter," said Moran. "What happens in this county needs to be determined by people in this county. When I've talked to some of the utility companies, the ones that have been successful are the ones that really know how to site a solar farm in a way that doesn't disadvantage neighboring landowners and doesn't interfere with production agriculture."
Over a 40-year lifetime, the solar farm is expected to pay an average of $1.6 million in property tax back to Barton County each year.
"Almost every community in Kansas' future is so much determined by whether or not farmers and ranchers are profitable and if another generation has a farm to come back to. How we do this is really important. Like most important decisions, they should be made by people at home that are the most effected."
Local planning commissions are working on solar zoning regulations to present to their respective councils for approval.