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HAPPY FRIDAY
AUGUST 30, 2024
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Welcome to Energy Right’s weekly roundup! This week our team reached out to 9 different counties from Botetourt to Westmoreland on our mission for Clean Energy the Right Way.
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BALANCING SOLAR GROWTH AND CONSERVATION IN VIRGINIA
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Westmoreland County, Board of Supervisors
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Our Energy Right team was excited to present in Westmoreland County, in the heart of the Northern Neck, during a joint work session with the Board of Supervisors and Planning Commission. It was an excellent opportunity to share educational materials and best practices with local leaders, county staff, and community members.
Discussions focused on the future of utility-scale solar projects and their integration with conservation efforts. We explored Virginia’s initiatives for stormwater management, forest preservation, and sustainable agricultural practices alongside solar development. These conversations are essential as we strive to harmonize solar energy development with the state’s beautiful landscapes and communities, highlighting solar energy as a cost-effective option critical for Virginia’s energy independence.
We encouraged the locality to consider key aspects to enhance solar projects, such as adequate setbacks (how far away from property lines structures need to be to be built), vegetative buffers to minimize visual impact, and a revenue-sharing model to fund essential county services. Successful projects blend seamlessly into their surroundings, generating revenue for vital services and initiatives. We’ve enjoyed the open dialogue with Westmoreland County and appreciate their collaborative approach. Together, we can advance towards a more energy-independent and sustainable future for Virginia.
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Solar Projects and their Ripple Effect
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Our local economies are a complex network connected by businesses, service providers, and consumers across all industries. These interconnected relationships form the backbone of economic activity within a community. When large investments, such as renewable energy development projects, are introduced into a locality, they bring more than just the project itself; they bring jobs and a subsequent spending into the fold of the local economy. This process, the “economic multiplier effect,” is a phenomenon that researchers at Penn State University’s Center for Economic and Community Development have studied and discussed in their work.
Their report indicates that in 2020, approximately 30% of the jobs generated from community solar projects in Pennsylvania stemmed from the spending of employees directly involved in these initiatives. This ripple effect means that the benefits of such projects extend far beyond the immediate job creation, positively impacting local businesses, service providers, and the broader economy. This potential to revitalize our localities and create a stronger, more resilient community is often overlooked.
At Energy Right, we are dedicated to ensuring that communities have the knowledge and means to harness this potential through the responsible permitting of renewable energy projects. By capitalizing on the growing solar industry, we not only create jobs in renewable energy but also bring an economic boost to a diverse range of local businesses. This approach paves the way for a more vibrant and sustainable future, where the benefits of renewable energy extend beyond environmental gains to include significant economic advantages for our communities.
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This week, our team travelled to:
Botetourt, Brunswick, Chesterfield, Dinwiddie, Franklin, King George, Prince Edward, Roanoke, and Westmoreland Counties.
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Randolph Farm, Ettrick VA
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Energy Right team member Dylan Taylor attended the VSU Agricultural Field day, meeting with
USDA and other agricultural agency members to discuss all things on farmlands in Virginia.
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Superintendent Rice gives timeline on solar at the highschool
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Westmoreland County schools have been working for several years to install solar panels on or near their campuses. For Washington District and Cople Elementary, this involved using ground space near the buildings. A different approach is being taken with Westmoreland High School, as Superintendent Cathy Rice detailed at last week’s School Board meeting.
For Westmoreland High, the panels will be placed on the roof of the building which required extra steps during the process—all of which is set to finish by the end of October this year. Initiatives in solar energy like these are exciting to see, showing the effectiveness of projects and their viability for the community as a whole.
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NEXT WEEK
We’ll be going to Giles, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Russel, Scott, Suffolk, and Wise Counties
Have a great weekend!
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“Agrivoltaics works and it is going to keep growing in the United States. ‘It all starts
with large herbivores and ends with herbivores because we’re building solar on lands that were previously grasslands,’ said Anna Clare Monlezun, founder and grazinglands and livestock management facilitator at Graze LLC. ‘There’s lots of land that is not farmable, but it can be used by livestock to produce food in a way that is harmonious with ecosystem health,’ said Monlezun during a panel discussion at the Solar Farm Summit hosted by the American Farmland Trust.”
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