The energy for growth: Excessive solar setbacks send unwelcoming message

Following growing statewide trends of local government restricting renewable development through burdensome ordinances, Allen County has become another in a long line of counties closing off economic development and infringing on property rights for landowners.

In recent months, solar siting has been a leading topic for county officials, reaching its conclusion on Oct. 3 — turning away around 400 megawatts of generation.

On June 12, the Allen County Plan Commission held a public hearing at the Coliseum to discuss solar ordinance amendments. The room was packed with equal numbers of supporters and opponents. The tension was palpable: Would the county support private property rights and economic development or not?

In a bold move, the plan commission reduced 1,000-foot setbacks to 200 feet from the centerline of roadways, and 400 feet from nonparticipating property lines. These setbacks were extremely protective for nonparticipating landowners and the community at large.

The plan commission understood that 1,000-foot setbacks would have been a de facto ban on solar, leaving only 3 acres of developable land, infringing on the property rights of landowners.

Fast forward to Aug. 8. The Board of Commissioners rejected the favorable recommendation of the plan commission, after considerable support for the setbacks from community members, and increased them back to 1,000 feet.

On Sept.18, the plan commission had its final say, voting unanimously to send a negative recommendation on the 1,000-foot setbacks to the commissioners.

County Councilman Paul Lagemann, who also sits on the planning commission, stated that the issue wasn’t about solar development, but “it’s about jobs, it’s about growth. … We (Allen County) have the space to grow, and we just say no.”

He also expressed disappointment with the commissioners, stating that this is “one example of what we shouldn’t do in local government but continue to do. … This is woke government at its worst.”

Commissioner Therese Brown said she was “appalled” by comments made by the planning commission members during their meeting. What’s more appalling is the commissioners’ complete disregard for property rights and economic opportunity. They’ve made it clear that Allen County is closed for business and are turning away millions of tax dollars that could have paid for school upgrades, emergency services and new infrastructure.

All the while, energy demand continues to rise as artificial intelligence, data centers and the age of electrification expand.

We simply cannot meet these demands without adding more electrons to the grid. By effectively banning solar development, Allen County not only hurts itself and community members, it’s hurting the nation’s grid reliability.

This decision follows a trend across Indiana where counties are blocking renewable development — solar, wind or battery storage — through lengthy moratoriums and over-restrictive ordinances. They drag developers through lengthy and expensive permitting processes, sometimes for years, only to reject the project in the end.

Indiana’s secretary of energy and natural resources, Suzanne Jaworowski, recently warned that “these local moratoriums are setting our energy policy … and not only that, it’s creating a reputation … where industry doesn’t want to come.”

These policies don’t just stifle growth; they infringe on the rights of landowners to use their land as they wish and drive away billions of investment dollars.

It’s not just the energy industry that won’t want to come to Indiana. It’s any large-load industry such as manufacturing plants, warehouses and data centers. If Indiana continues to stifle growth, we risk losing these high-wage jobs and economic development that could benefit Hoosiers for generations to come.

If Indiana wants to remain competitive by providing high-wage jobs and attracting investment, leaders have got to allow industry and development to come to the state. We cannot afford to stay stuck in the past.

We need the energy supply to increase like yesterday. We’ve gone beyond whether we like certain types of energy.

No, we need it all, and we need it now. Cut the red tape at the local level, support property rights for landowners, and let American energy dominance thrive.

Lillian Floutsis is a senior field representative with the Indiana Land & Liberty Coalition (a project of the Conservative Energy Network), a conservative nonprofit that works to support property rights for landowners and get more clean electrons onto the grid.