Residents demand moratorium on proposed solar and battery storage project
The majority of Monday’s Huntingburg Common Council meeting was devoted to a public discussion of the Crossvine Solar Project, located south of Huntingburg between the Huntingburg Airport and the Town of Holland.
Holland and Huntingburg residents requested that the council enact a moratorium on the construction of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) planned for the solar field. According to the AES website, the systems use lithium-ion batteries to store electricity produced by the solar field.
The BESS will be located near West Holland Road North East, and residents are concerned about potential toxins, fire response and the impact on property values.
Referring to the solar park maps, Holly Gogel told the council that a portion of the area designated for solar panels falls within Huntingburg’s two-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction. However, the BESS is about a quarter mile outside that jurisdiction.
Gogel, speaking for neighbors who collected more than 200 signatures opposing the project, asked the council to pause the Crossvine battery energy storage system and solar project to better understand its impacts.
“This message is not born out of hostility to renewable energy,” Gogel said. “It is a message born out of love for our homes, the land, the safety of our children, the schools, the honorable members of our emergency services.”
Residents raised concerns about emergency response capabilities, particularly regarding potential fires at the battery storage facility. Gogel cited incidents in Arizona in which battery storage fires required extended firefighter deployments and resulted in business evacuations and freeway closures.
“If on fire, these fires cannot be extinguished, taking days or weeks to burn out,” Gogel said, referencing a thermal runaway event that occurred in 2022 at a 10-megawatt facility in Chandler, Arizona, that resulted in a freeway closure and business evacuations, inferring that this 85-megawatt facility could be more devastating.
The mayor confirmed the city has requested AES meet with the county’s emergency management agency and has involved local police and fire departments in discussions about emergency response protocols.
Elkins admitted he wasn’t a fan of the solar panels.
“I see no benefit to solar fields and what they do; there’s no benefit to the city of Huntingburg,” he said, adding that he would look into what the city could do legally.
Korrine Whitehead, a biology teacher, described negative impacts she has observed at an AES solar project in Pike County, near where her brother-in-law lives. She outlined how the land leased to the Pike County projects had been transformed into ugly, unusable areas, fenced off like prison yards.
She told the council she was also concerned that damaged solar panels can leak toxic chemicals, including cadmium, lead and silicon dust.
Whitehead urged the council to consider a moratorium and stricter zoning ordinances to do “whatever you can do to put a pause to it; put a stop to it.”
Council members indicated they would consult with the city attorney about potential legal options to address the project. Elkins said he has spoken with county elected officials about the possibility of broader action, also.
The mayor noted that under current zoning ordinances, solar fields are considered an acceptable agricultural activity on agricultural land, making it difficult for the city to intervene. However, he expressed a willingness to explore strengthening the city’s existing solar energy system standards in the Unified Development Ordinance.
The project has received little public communication, according to residents and the city and county officials. However, AES has scheduled a public open house for Nov. 13 at the Huntingburg Event Center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., with a virtual meeting planned for Nov. 19.
Accenting the lack of communication, Elkins said he learned about the public meeting from someone else in the county rather than receiving a direct invitation from AES.
Gogel told the council that the residents are the ones who notified the Town of Holland about the project. Town officials have expressed concerns about the project’s impact on its resources and response capabilities in the event of a disaster.
Since the project began under BP, the city’s only formal action has been approving a decommissioning bond that requires AES to maintain funds for removing the facility if it stops producing power within six months or is sold to another company.
Construction has not begun on the solar project, though work is underway on a CenterPoint substation on adjacent property that will serve the facility.
The mayor promised to provide updates on discussions with AES and legal options at future public meetings, while emphasizing his continued opposition to large-scale solar development in the area.
