Report: Solargen should scale back

Public can review planned solar plant’s environmental document
for 45 days
Citing significant and unavoidable impacts, San Benito County’s
Planning Department recommended a reduction of the size and scope
of Solargen’s proposed Panoche Valley solar project in its draft
environmental impact report that was prepared by an independent
consultant and made public this week.
Labeling
”
Alternative C
”
as the environmentally superior alternative, the planning
department’s ideal choice, among four options, would call for a
reduction of the proposal from 2,500 acres covered by panels to 987
acres
– and from 420 megawatts to 120 megawatts of power generated.
The entire proposed project area as it stands is estimated at 4,885
acres.
The alternative is a 71.5 percent reduction of power generated
and an 80 percent smaller footprint, according to the EIR.
Public can review planned solar plant’s environmental document for 45 days

Citing significant and unavoidable impacts, San Benito County’s Planning Department recommended a reduction of the size and scope of Solargen’s proposed Panoche Valley solar project in its draft environmental impact report that was prepared by an independent consultant and made public this week.

Labeling “Alternative C” as the environmentally superior alternative, the planning department’s ideal choice, among four options, would call for a reduction of the proposal from 2,500 acres covered by panels to 987 acres – and from 420 megawatts to 120 megawatts of power generated. The entire proposed project area as it stands is estimated at 4,885 acres.

The alternative is a 71.5 percent reduction of power generated and an 80 percent smaller footprint, according to the EIR.

In California Environmental Quality Act documents, the county must come up with alternatives for the proposed project that would help mitigate the effects on the environment. The county released the EIR on Monday, and residents have 45 days to review it.

The recommended alternative also asks for 3,898 acres dedicated to wildlife preservation that would protect some of the endangered and threatened species, such as the kit fox and the giant kangaroo rat. Solargen would be given the opportunity to purchase the land as a biological preserve.

Solargen Chief Executive Officer Michael Peterson, when reached Wednesday, said he had not yet thoroughly reviewed the EIR.

“It’s not that it hasn’t been important,” he said. “It’s just that I haven’t been able to get to it yet.”

The alternative also would cut the construction time from five years to two. It would eliminate the most severe significant impacts of the project, potentially saving the habitats of the giant kangaroo rat, San Joaquin kit fox and blunt-nose lizard. Also, the long-term visibility of construction and night lighting would be reduced.

Other alternatives included Solargen’s preferred proposal, Alternative A, to shrink it to 410 megawatts of power. The smaller project, with 20 percent less acreage, would help protect the habitat of the giant kangaroo rat. The construction time would stay at five years.

Alternative B would involve placing it on 1,596 acres and it would generate 184 megawatts. The project would be developed in three years. The alternative would have a 67 percent smaller footprint than the proposed project.

The final alternative would move the project to a site in the Westlands Water District – using about 30,000 acres of fallow agricultural land in Fresno and Kings counties. It was not chosen because the impacts on the biological resources would be similar and the project would not meet all the goals of Solargen’s proposed project. 

The rest of the draft EIR listed the impacts of Solargen’s proposed Panoche Valley project and what changes could be made to mitigate them.

The EIR listed 10 areas that are “issues to be resolved that are known to the County or were raised during the scoping process.”

The issues include aesthetics, the loss of ag land and the potential for lowering groundwater levels. 

Some of the issues are described as “unmitigable” in the EIR. 

The aesthetic impacts of the project cannot be prevented, Peterson said. 

“It’s going to be there – you’ll never be able to mitigate it,” he said. 

The solar panels from the project will be no bigger than a tree and will only look like a dot on the horizon, Peterson said. There will be an impact but it will be small, he said.

But according to the EIR, the impact would be a “dramatic change to the landscape of the Panoche Valley.” The only mitigation measures for aesthetics that the EIR noted were to reduce night lighting and treat the panels to reduce glare. 

The agricultural impact to the area is large but reduced, according to the EIR. The land is labeled as a prime farmland and 13 percent is described as farmland with statewide importance. Currently, it is used for cattle grazing. 

Once construction begins, the cattle grazing would cease. Solargen plans to have sheep grazing to control the vegetation surrounding the solar panels. 

If the Solargen proposal holds, the impact to the biological wildlife in the area would result in the loss of habitats for three threatened species: the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, the giant kangaroo rat and the San Joaquin kit fox. The area is also considered a “globally significant important bird area,” which is the home to large sparrow flocks and burrowing owls.

The project could have a significant impact on 15 other species, according to the document.

Mitigation measures would call for a wildlife preserve that would protect the animals’ habitats. 

Despite the list of concerns, Peterson is optimistic that they can be mitigated, he said. 

Supervisors Anthony Botelho and Reb Monaco are asking for community involvement in the process.

“I’m proud the county has been able to move the project forward in a timely matter,” Botelho said. “It’s time for the public to look at the document and make comments.” 

Monaco said he is looking forward to the next step in the process. 

“It’s doing exactly what it should be doing … it moves step by step,” he said. “It’s a good way to show that the process still works.”