Simsbury residents who are for and against a plan to turn agricultural land into a solar farm will have another chance to speak out about the project.
Green energy developer Deepwater Wind will hold an informational meeting at Simsbury High School to give residents news on the project and give neighbors the chance to meet their team.
Property owners near the proposed solar farm seem split on the project.
“I don’t understand what people are against because I don’t see any problem with solar panels. They go up on roofs and they’re not ugly,” Vincent Curcure, of Simsbury, said.
“It’s going to devalue our home,” Lorraine Trainor, of Simsbury, said.
Deepwater Wind wants to harness the sun to power 5,000 New England homes. To do that they need land and they’ve targeted 280 acres of flat former farmland along Hoskins and County roads for their Tobacco Valley Solar Farm.
“Solar farms are excellent neighbors. We pay taxes and use no municipal services. This particular site is zoned for industrial and residential uses. A solar farm will be a much better neighbor than a manufacturing plant,” Deepwater Wind CEO Jeff Grybowki said in a statement to NBC Connecticut.
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Not everyone thinks theirs is a bright idea, including the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
“We thought the power from this project was too expensive. We kind of drew a line and said this is how much we’re willing to pay for clean energy,” DEEP spokesperson Dennis Schain said.
DEEP rejected the company’s proposal to build in Connecticut, but the other two members of the tri-state program, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, green-lighted the renewable energy project.
“There’re certain benefits that Massachusetts and Rhode Island will gain from this project with their support for it. Connecticut picked several other projects through this three-state initiative. We’ll get the benefits from those projects,” Schain said.
The Deepwater Wind meeting will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Simsbury High School tonight.
