Work on a 640-acre solar farm near Coggon may soon be underway after a Linn County District Court judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit brought against the Board of Supervisors by a family who lives near the planned project.
Energy companies and landowners would be limited on where they can set up solar panel arrays under a bill advanced Monday in the Iowa Senate.
Moxie Solar closed Dec. 2 after coming under new management earlier this year.
As much as 60% of the region’s energy could come from wind and solar — which has a lower energy output than the non-renewables being retired.
Attorneys for the Linn County Board of Supervisors, Coggon Solar LLC and a family that’s suing them met in court on Thursday to argue the case before a judge.
The 11 plaintiffs argue the solar ordinance, which was approved by the supervisors in September, constitutes “spot zoning.”
All three supervisors support pause in development
Instead of 12 months as proposed, the moratorium would last three months and the supervisors would have the option of extending it by resolution. During the moratorium, approved solar projects could continue, but the county would not accept applications for new utility-scale solar projects.
The first public hearing and consideration is Monday, Oct. 3 at 11 a.m. in Cedar Rapids.
Iowa generates more than half of its electricity with wind, but clean energy advocates say the state and nation can do even more
At least two county supervisors say they plan to vote for a 12-month utility-scale solar moratorium next month.
Researchers want to know how co-locating solar and crops could benefit farmers and be a salve to a growing strain in the Corn Belt, where rural residents and towns are pushing back on solar projects that can often take farmland out of production.
Linn County Board of Supervisors vote 2-1 at all three meetings to approve the NextEra utility-scale solar projects
As Iowa utility companies seek to make solar power a bigger part of the energy mix — spurred by the need to limit greenhouse gases to reduce the impacts of climate change — proposed solar installations have grown in size and number, causing more concerns from neighbors.
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