Everyone agrees Louisiana needs rules for solar farms. No one yet agrees what they should be.

For much of 2021, one issue dominated Tangipahoa Parish politics: Should the parish allow a 100-megawatt solar farm to be built on 1,200 acres of farmland? And if so, under what rules?

On one side, residents and farmers worried it would be an eyesore and pose a safety hazard and take up valuable agricultural land. On the other, solar developers and landowners argued that property owners should be allowed to do what they want with their land and that the project was clean and safe. 

After issuing a temporary moratorium, the council passed regulations requiring 50-foot vegetative barriers, among other rules.

In April, the solar farm went online. But the debate left lasting scars.

“We had people crying. We have, still to this day, neighbors that do not speak,” said state Rep. Kimberly Coates, R-Ponchatoula, who was a member of the Parish Council. “At the time, we were like, ‘We need the state to step in and help,’ because we were not experienced.”

The debate in Tangipahoa has played out over and over again on police juries and parish councils across Louisiana in recent years, as local officials grapple with concerns from constituents amid a surge in utility-scale solar projects.

Almost everyone agrees that solar needs regulations. But there’s little agreement on how to go about it.

A group of lawmakers spent the last year studying the issue with the goal of creating state regulations that could serve as a “model for the rest of the country,” said state Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, who headed the effort as chair of the House Natural Resources and the Environment Committee.

House Bill 615 was the result. Sponsored by Geymann, the bill would require mile-long buffers between solar projects and residential properties. It would also create approval processes at three state agencies, the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, to ensure projects don’t intrude on wildlife or replace valuable agricultural land.

In a committee hearing on the bill last week, Geymann said his goal is to put guardrails in place so solar can flourish “in a way that doesn’t have a negative impact on our state and our communities.”

“I’m not here to kill solar,” he said.

But during the hearing, it was clear that the bill is far from a consensus.

Property owners who have leased land for solar projects said the measure would trample on their property rights. Solar developers said it would kill future developments in Louisiana. The petrochemical sector — which is increasingly turning to renewables to make its products more desirable overseas — also signaled opposition. 

“The legislation in its current form decimates new utility-scale solar generation at a time when it is needed most,” said Jeff Cantin, board chair of Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association and CEO of Louisiana-based Solar Alternatives, which installs solar panels for commercial and residential customers. 

Tommy Cryar, board president of Beauregard Electric Cooperative, Inc., which provides electricity to over 44,000 customers, said he supports the restrictions laid out in the bill.

“What other industry takes up two to three to four thousand acres and meanders around residential neighborhoods? And the answer is none,” Cryar said. “The public and our Legislature would not tolerate any other industry to conduct themselves in this manner.”

The legislation ultimately advanced out of committee on April 23, with assurances from Geymann that he’d bring amendments to the bill on the House floor.

Solar projects expanding in Louisiana

The solar industry has grown rapidly in Louisiana amid a boom in renewable energy investments fueled by federal incentives and growing demand among users for clean energy.

Five years ago, there were zero utility-scale solar developments in Louisiana. Today, there are nearly a dozen, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The supply chain to support those projects is also growing. In 2023, Arizona-based First Solar began construction on a $1.1 billion solar panel manufacturing plant near New Iberia that’s expected to employ more than 700 workers once it’s complete.

One question is whether regulations should be left up to state or local officials.

Early on, solar farms seemed to appear out of nowhere, catching local officials by surprise and sometimes angering neighbors. Half a dozen parishes issued temporary moratoriums while they crafted rules. Livingston Parish extended its moratorium in March, in anticipation of state rules.

Geymann’s bill would require projects that are 10 acres or larger to get a permit from the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources.

“That will give us consistency across parishes,” he said.

Don Caffery, a lobbyist for the Louisiana Landowners Association, which represents hundreds of landowners, said his members believe this is “a local issue” and each of Louisiana’s 64 parishes should come up with their own rules.

The solar industry says it prefers uniform state regulations instead of a hodgepodge of local rules. But it’s not pleased with the bill that has emerged.

“What industry has sought is a transparent and predictable rule book. Tell our companies what the rules are and we’ll follow them,” Cantin said, adding that most states don’t regulate solar farms unless they’re at least 500 acres. 

Much of the concern around solar projects has to do with how they look. The projects can span thousands of acres and transform agricultural vistas into seas of solar panels.

At the committee hearing, Geymann shared images of some “not so great” projects with broken panels and overgrown vegetation located near homes.

“I don’t want to be barbecuing looking at solar panels, nor do my neighbors,” said Tommy Buckner, a resident who lives across from a proposed development near Lake Charles.

Geymann’s legislation would require a one-mile setback between solar panels and residential properties, though he said he’s open to working with the industry to come up with a different number.

It would also require developers to submit a plan for “decommissioning” a development once it is no longer in use and a “letter of clearance from the state Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

Legislators in 2022 directed the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources to adopt a permitting process to ensure solar projects had an adequate end-of-life plan, though final rules have yet to be published. 

“We don’t want an orphan well situation where 10 years from now we have a whole bunch of solar projects that have been abandoned and we’re on the hook for cleaning them up,” Geymann said.

Agriculture versus solar?

The requirement for a sign-off from the state agriculture department is aimed at trying to keep solar farms from replacing prime farmland. Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain told lawmakers that removing farmland from production could have ripple effects on the larger community.

“If you lose so many acres in a specific commodity in a specific region, then you could lose the mill. You lose the mill, then that affects the rest of the farmers,” he said.

But opponents argued that the requirement would infringe on the rights of property owners to do what they want with their land.

“All of a sudden, the highest and best use of your land is being decided by a committee in Baton Rouge,” said Jeffrey Clark, a lobbyist who represents a coalition of power companies.

Avoyelles Parish Police Juror Sam Pearce, a landowner who has a contract with a solar farm, said the state should expect litigation from landowners if it passes such a rule.

“We harvest the sun. It doesn’t matter whether we’re growing soybeans or cotton or rice or sugar cane or solar panels. It’s all harvesting the sun, every bit of it,” he said.

A similar clearance letter would be needed from the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to ensure the project doesn’t disturb protected habitat or species.

The Louisiana Farm Bureau and the Louisiana Wildlife Foundation submitted “green cards” signaling support for the legislation.

Opposing the legislation with “red cards” were the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Louisiana Chemical Association and the National Federation of Independent Businesses. 

“I hoped that when we got here today, we would all be unified, but we’re not,” said Geymann during last week’s hearing. “And that’s OK. It just means we have more work to do.”