The possibility of a new solar energy farm has brought differentiating opinions to Botetourt County, a predominantly rural community northwest of Roanoke. This solar farm would be built in Fincastle, according to WDBJ7 News. A proposal was brought to a planning committee on Monday, March 9 and was followed by a large public uproar.
WDBJ7 News took comments from Botetourt County residents, with some claiming this was an injustice to the community. One resident claimed the farm was “wealth distribution at the expense of the rural community”.
New Leaf Energy is the company that brought the proposal forward to the area. They host farms mostly on the east coast of the United States, but are rapidly growing across the entire country. Their proposal follows their regular “community scale solar energy program” that would allow the energy produced to be returned to the energy grid already in place in the area. WDBJ7 reports that it could power up to 1,000 homes. Residents would have to become members of the New Leaf Energy program in order to benefit from the farm…