Locals raise concerns about the Haverhill and Viola solar panel project

HAVERHILL, Minn. (KTTC) – Community members of two Olmsted County townships have voiced their concerns for a large solar field project coming to the area.

1,800 acres of the property owner’s farmland in the Haverhill and Viola area will soon be converted into solar fields.

Those who attended Haverhill’s town hall board meeting on Wednesday spoke against the project.

A petition to keep these solar fields out of the community now has more than 125 signatures, and agricultural land in the townships will soon change from farm fields to solar fields.

Viola Local Ken Everson said this will be detrimental for the economics of his community.

“Fertilizer and seed at 500 to 550 an acre is $630,000. So, a little over half a million dollars. Throw the beans in there, another $196,000. That total comes to $827,000, so three quarters of a million dollars is gone,” Everson said.

Haverhill local Jeffery Spors didn’t lease out his land, but said that when this project is complete, solar panels will be surrounding his property.

“They just install it, and then they sell it off to someone else,” he said. “Part of it is, how much are they really going to care about what they do around here when they’re not even the long-term people taking care of it?”

The project builder, Ranger Power, provided a statement about its $180 million investment for the Lemon Hill Solar Project in Olmsted County.

The Lemon Hill Solar Project is expected to generate over $33 million in tax revenue of its life, more than 80% of which will go to the county, townships, local schools, and the local fire district. The project represents an approximately $180 million dollar investment in Olmsted County and the economic activity spurred by the project will benefit local restaurants, hotels, equipment suppliers, and other businesses. In addition, the property on which the project will be located will be fully vegetated for the life of the project, which can improve water retention and allow the soil nutrient base to regenerate. The project will be fully decommissioned at the end of its life at no cost to landowners or the community.

In addition to the community benefits listed above, the Lemon Hill Solar Project will benefit the landowners who have voluntarily agreed to participate in the project. It will also provide clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to Minnesotans and will help the state meet its goal of providing 100% clean electricity by 2040.

Haverhill Board Member Steve Pollack said the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has authority over the townships on this issue.

“In the end, we have to tell them our hands are tied. Talk to your state legislators,” Pollack said.

Some landowners in Haverhill have chosen to lease their land for the next 20 to 40 years for Ranger Power’s solar project and provided their statement.

To whom it may concern-

We are landowners in the Viola- Haverhill Townships who have signed a contract with Ranger Power to lease some of our land for the proposed Lemon Hill Solar Farm.

We understand some members of the community are opposed to the project.  We do not share their concerns.

We feel it is our right as landowners to do what we want with our land as long as we are not breaking any laws. If the solar farm is approved by the state of Minnesota, then we are in favor of the project going forward.

Renewable energy is an important part of our future in this country. We think we need to do what we can to encourage renewable energy like solar.

The solar farm project will allow us to enroll some of our more highly erodible ground and give us the opportunity to see better financial returns than farming the land as we are currently doing.  

A timeline has not been set for the construction of the solar fields on landowners’ properties.

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