Marty: County must stay firm on Solargen mandates

When it comes to the Panoche Valley solar farm, it is essential
that county shoulder its responsibilities to police the applicant.
They must focus all their attention on one thing
– protecting the public interest. They cannot allow themselves
to be distracted by the last fight, side issues, promises or
references to home and hearth.
When it comes to the Panoche Valley solar farm, it is essential that county shoulder its responsibilities to police the applicant. They must focus all their attention on one thing – protecting the public interest. They cannot allow themselves to be distracted by the last fight, side issues, promises or references to home and hearth.

The proposed Solargen project is to generate electricity with solar technology on a huge industrial scale – in other words, this is not a day spa.

There will be many negative environmental impacts. The recently approved environmental impact report contains more information that the average reader can absorb in a month. Nonetheless, the board of supervisors decided on a 4-1 vote that the potential of jobs and some economic stimulus was an overriding consideration that more than offset the documented negatives. It’s their job to make that decision, but it does not end there.

Now that the EIR is approved, it’s the job of the county to make sure that in exchange for the opportunity to make a profit, Solargen does everything right. The applicant must protect the environment, deliver the benefits promised and avoid leaving us bankrupt with a hole in the ground, big bills and a raft of lawsuits. It’s not easy to do or even check, and that’s why we need to ride tight heard on this project. Make no mistake: The county has a big monkey on its back.

Without a detailed and thorough development agreement and comprehensive enforcement, the promises of financial benefits as overriding considerations and the environmental protections detailed in the EIR are worthless. It’s like posting a speed limit in a town without a police force. 

First, let’s do some straight talking. Opponents of the project should not string together insults by calling Michael Peterson, Solargen’s chairman of the board, president and CEO, a “rich New York developer.” He denied it, but that’s not the point. The point is that there is nothing wrong with being rich, from New York or a developer. Developer is not a dirty word, and the other two references are just attempts to play on small-town prejudices. If being rich is a sin, why are so many people trying to be sinners? It detracts from their legitimate concerns of the opponents.

On the other hand, Mr. Peterson can stop telling us how much he loves the county and all its residents. He did not come here to help us. He came here because he thought that he could make a good profit on this project. There is nothing wrong with that, but he’s overdoing the love-fest. If Solargen can figure out a way to save 10 cents and put that dime into profit to boost the investment value, that’s exactly what they will do – it’s business. Why do you think they are buying their solar panels overseas? It’s because they are cheaper in the end and the purchase can send some money back to their major foreign stockholder. We may be country, but we’re not bumpkins.

Solargen is not planning to steal the 30-percent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act capital-funding grant. First, one does not steal the bait – the ARRA funding is the biggest incentive to get investors to put money into the project. Second, the government gets very nasty if you steal their money. Finally, there is no reason to steal what the taxpayers are already giving you free. If the public is upset at the federal government for giving huge grants that will go to overseas manufactures and investors, why take it out on Solargen? It’s not their fault – they’re just doing what the Feds have enabled everyone to do.

I never see the county turning down the grant funding for buses that they admit they don’t need.

Now that we’ve come to grips with the situation, we can get to the critical part where the public agencies and county usually stumble – agreements and enforcement. The history of these battles is that after the EIR dust settles, everyone is exhausted. From then on almost all the energy and money goes into the paperwork and very little into making sure that things are done correctly and completely. Even the county board chairman, Reb Monaco, thought San Benito had a renewable energy policy with specific protections, but it turned out that the policy was never officially incorporated into the general plan, as pointed out by a county attorney.    

I am very concerned about the county’s poor enforcement record and limited resources for a project like this. They allowed a small winery to avoid complying with its use permit for years. The county did not even have the equipment or expertise to enforce the noise restrictions it imposed and a straightforward traffic mitigation measure ate up untold hours of staff, planning commission and board time on violations and appeals.

The adopted EIR for this project has over 100 mitigation and approval requirements for the county to enforce, and there are many still to be written. One thing conspicuously absent is the requirement for continuous on-site monitoring and inspection by qualified individuals who are not employed by the applicant. These on-site inspections are essential to ensure that the proposed mitigations stay in compliance. If they make a big mistake, a simple “undo” will not be available. Naturally, the taxpayers should pass these enforcement costs on to the applicant; it’s the cost of doing business.

The same principles must be applied to financial promises and security bonding. It’s a three-step process. One – analyze and document the requirements, promises and representations. Two – get it in writing in the development agreement; get all of it in writing. Three – enforce the agreements. Insist that the applicant hold up their end of the bargain. It the county misses any of those critical steps, we will be in trouble right off the bat.

There is a lot at stake. The overwhelming majority of the local business community and labor organizations came out in support of this project based on the anticipated benefits and those that were paraded by Solargen. If the project fails we should not hear, “We only worked there” from labor or “We thought it was OK” from business. When you throw all your support behind something, you have an obligation to make sure it is done right.

If the county does a bad job and business or labor fails, the citizens will not forget. The supporters will have poisoned the well of goodwill with the public, and there will be nothing else built here for a long, long time. For those who care about the future, these issues are critical.

Marty Richman is a Hollister resident.