The public can weigh in on the latest major filing by the developers of a proposed 2,000-acre solar power facility in northern Cayuga County.
Florida-based NextEra Energy Resources, a sister company of Florida Power & Light Co., has filed its proposed stipulations for what will be included in the state review of its solar project. The company seeks to install solar panels and related equipment for storing and transmitting electricity on 1,300 acres of leased or purchased private property in the town of Conquest. The remaining acreage would be secured for buffer areas.聽
The 130-page stipulation document, filed Feb. 8, needs to be finalized and approved before NextEra can formally submit its application for the project with the The state Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment. Because of the size of the project, the state board has final approval authority, rather than the town.
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The project has raised concerned from some Conquest-area residents who are concerned about the impact it will have on the community's environment and quality of life. A group called the Rural Preservation and Net Conservation Benefit Coalition has secured funds for its own review of the proposal, and it has recently started circulating a petition in opposition to the project.聽
The petition, titled "Petition Against the Installation of Garnet Energy solar panel farm in Conquest, New York," is posted at Cato Hardware, New York Pizzeria and Sure Fine Market in Cato, as well as Ed & Jeans Market in Port Byron.
NextEra's stipulations proposal is available for review at Conquest Town Hall and the Port Byron Library, as well as online at . The comment period is open for 21 days from Feb. 8.
Formal comments on the proposal should emailed to SamLaniado:sml@readlaniado.com or via mailed to Read and Laniado, LLP, 25 Eagle Street, Albany,New York 12207. A copy also must be filed with the secretary to the siting board, Michelle L. Phillips, at secretary@dps.ny.gov or 3 Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350. Reference Case 20-F-0043.
NextEra's rough timeline has included submitting an official project application to the state in the fourth quarter of this year, with construction starting in August 2022 and the facility going online in 2023. The company said the project would create roughly 250 construction jobs and three to four permanent salaried jobs. It also said potential payments in lieu of taxes, if approved by the Cayuga County Industrial Development Agency, would amount to millions of dollars in revenues for local governments.
