Meta datacenter solar project rejected by town

Commissioners Erika Sugarmon, David Bradford Jr., Shante Avant, Henri Brooks and Mickell Lowery voted in favor of the solar project. Commissioners Amber Mills, Edmund Ford Jr., Mick Wright and Britney Thornton voted against it.

Commissioners Charlie Caswell and Miska Clay Bibbs abstained from the vote, and Commissioner Brandon Morrison recused herself due to her family having an interest in solar panels in another county. Commissioner Michael Whaley was not present at Monday’s meeting.

The neighbors’ concerns ranged from runoff that could cause erosion to the land, RWE’s lack of concern for wildlife in the area, and chiefly, that the solar panels will be an eyesore in their rural neighborhood plummeting home values.

At least 15% of counties in the U.S. have effectively halted new utility-scale wind, solar, or both, USA TODAY found. These limits come through outright bans, moratoriums, construction impediments and other conditions that make green energy difficult to build.

The Graceland Solar Project is part of TVA’s Green Invest partnership with RWE and Meta. The 150-megawatt solar facility will allocate 100 megawatts to Meta for use at its data center in Gallatin. The total megawatts produced are equivalent to powering approximately 24,000 households, McNeely said. The other 40 megawatts will be used for redundancy within TVA’s system.

Though the solar project said they plan to place solar panels on about 600 acres of land, but has acquired over 1,500 acres for the project.

Though the resolution to allow the solar farm to be built was denied, an attorney Monday night said that the company could sue the county to reverse the commission’s decision.

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