GREENE COUNTY — For nearly three years some property owners in Greene County have been fighting a proposed massive industrial solar project.
Tonight, many of the property owners will be at the Greene Co. Fairgrounds to confront Vesper Energy, the company that wants to build the solar project.
For years, signs have been posted along many of the roads in rural Greene County, but those signs could soon be replaced by hundreds of thousands of solar panels if the Kingwood Solar Project moves forward.
>> Residents fight proposed solar project in Greene County
“It’s going to be part of what you see every time you come to this area,” said, Joe Krajicek. He is a lifelong farmers and agricultural advocate and said 17 property owners have signed a lease with Vesper Energy, but when he was approached about the opportunity several years ago, he turned it down.
Krajicek is now part of a group of citizens for Greene Acres, which was formed by hundreds of people concerned about how the solar panels would impact their communities, landscape and lives.
“You can’t fix one problem with renewables and create another one. It’s not that we’re against solar we just think it could be done more responsibly,” Krajicek said.
The project is expected to be located south of Clifton Road and west of Ohio Route 72 in Cedarville in Miami and Xenia Townships.
For comparison, the solar project at the University of Dayton uses just over 4,000 solar panels. The proposed Kingwood Solar Project is expected to be about 200 times bigger.
“The estimate, the developer has, is 850,000 to 1 million panels and it will encompass 1,500 acres,” Krajicek.
In a statement earlier this year, Vesper Energy told News Center 7 the Kingwood Solar Project is “A world-class clean energy projecet. We are fortunate to be working with incredible farmers who proud to preserve part of their land in a solar farm. Kingwood Solar will create more than 300 jobs and contribute $1.5 million annually to local schools and governments. This is a $45 million throughout the life of the project. The solar farm is emissions-free, low-laying and is a great asset to the Greene County community.”
The people supporting both sides of the argument are expected to speak at the meeting tonight at the fairgrounds.
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