Solar protects our ability to grow food in the future

Versus

Solar can help preserve top-soil and improve our whole county’s financial future.

  • Some ask why not just use existing roof tops to capture solar power
    • While nothing stops small scale solar installations on rooftops, each solar Mw requires 5 to 10 acres of panels.
    • The logistics and economics of connecting hundreds of acres of roof tops are not viable
    • Citizens Voice of Mason County has repeatedly said solar panels are safe enough to place on local roofs. This demonstrates they feel that little to no setback is justified by solar panel toxicity concerns.
  • Some ask why not limit power to strip mines and other brownfields
    • Capturing solar power in Mason County does not reduce the ability to also capture it on a strip mine elsewhere.
    • The primary constraint to a solar farm is capacity availability in nearby electric transmission lines.
    • As the least-cost source of electricity, the demand for solar power is almost limitless. 
  • Another claim is: Solar acres removed from production agriculture will cripple the local economy and population.
    • Reality as shown above is that solar has many benefits for local economy and ecology.
    • When I was a child in the 1950s,
      • Washington KY had three “general” stores,
      • Mason County had
        • several dealerships where one could purchase new farm equipment and their repair parts
        • several feed mills
        • three tobacco redryers, multiple green prizes and at least 18 tobacco warehouses
      • Maysville had two companies that purchased milk
    • Now, of all of those, there is one feed mill still operating. That feed mill survived and prospered by adapting to fulfill ever changing market needs, not by trying to do things the way they did the year before.
    • Our current trends are NOT supporting local ag supply businesses. Solar can replace lost tobacco and dairy cash flows into our community.
    • Allowing some to adopt solar in no way prevent others from continuing in their current land uses.

Yes, solar is a new enterprise, but close examination shows it will help Mason County have a better ecological and financial future. That, not the number of generations anyone has been on their land, must govern our decisions about solar’s future in Mason County.

For all these reasons solar is an excellent land use of A1 and A2 zones, if you want to preserve our priceless topsoil and environment.

Stop-Solar speeches at Public Hearing


Complete YouTube recording of Nov 18, 2021, public meeting