Douglas County's largest solar farm proposal moves ahead - Alexandria Echo Press

Douglas County's largest solar farm proposal moves ahead - Alexandria Echo Press | News, weather and sports from Alexandria, Minnesota

Douglas County's largest solar farm proposal moves ahead

The Fern-Roth solar farm would take up 499 acres along the south side of I-94.

ALEXANDRIA— A proposal to install a 40-megawatt solar farm south of I-94 near Alexandria is moving forward, with the company's assessment of the environmental impact open for public review.

The Fern-Roth Solar Farm would be by far the largest array in Douglas County, which has previously authorized smaller installations on the county's eastern edge, but it would still represent only a fragment of how the region gets its power. The companies building the installation, SolarGen of Minnesota, LLC and Allied Solar, LLC, would sell the power through Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).

Coal and natural gas make up 70% of the roughly 70,000 megawatts of energy MISO distributes. Solar makes up about 1% of the total.

So far, Douglas County Land and Resources Manager Dave Rush has heard nothing for or against the project. Solar arrays have become commonplace along the I-94 corridor between Alexandria and St. Cloud.

"Maybe people know now what to expect and they're not offended by it," he said.

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The Alexandria area development would occupy 499 acres. It would not touch the 125 acres of wetlands or 10 acres of brush or grassland, according to its environmental assessment. Half of the 20 acres of woods or forest would be removed for the installation and 150 acres would no longer be used to grow crops. It would create 42 additional acres of hard, impervious surface, up from nine. Its equipment would occupy 153 acres.

The company's environmental assessment says that it plans to exist only for 25 years before pulling all of its equipment and restoring the land to its original condition, but Rush said that time line is more a response to the county's formalities than any real likelihood of the solar farm leaving at that time. The solar panels themselves have a lifespan of 30 years.

County leaders have two concerns about the project, Rush said. One is the removal of farm land from agricultural production and the other is the condition the land will be left in at the end of its expected lifespan. However those concerns can be addressed, he said.

Solar arrays generally don't provoke any controversy, and despite its size, this one seems to be no different than those in other counties, he said.

The public can read the environmental assessment on the county's website or at the Land and Resource Management office.

Comments must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27 to David Rush, Douglas County Land & Resource Management, 305 8th Ave. W., Alexandria, MN, 56308 or by email to daveru@co.douglas.mn.us.

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