3,000-acre solar farm planned in York County has residents charged up

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A nearly 3,000-acre proposed solar farm in York County is catching controversy instead of rays.

The Omaha Public Power District wants to put up solar panels near McCool Junction.

But many farmers and other residents aren’t on board with the plan.

So the York County Zoning Board held a public meeting on Monday night.

It wants to hear opinions before making a final decision on the project.

Gene Jackson is one of the dozens of York County residents who attended the hearing.

“Would you buy a house that had a solar panel right next to it?” Jackson asked. “They don’t give us the truth of what they’re going to do.”

The K-Junction Solar Project would provide power to around 60,000 homes, according to OPPD.

And it could also generate millions of dollars in property tax revenue for McCool Junction Public Schools.

But Jackson thinks the project will only hurt the people there.

“You can produce more on the land than what the money they’re talking about is going to be,” he said.

Jackson said the solar farm will lower property value and ruin the farmland.

He, and many others, believe there is a better place for the solar farm.

“There’s all kinds of other places it could be,” he said. “Lincoln and Omaha have got great parking lots and building tops that would be a wonderful place to put them. Instead, they want to cover up prime farm ground.”

But another resident, Genevieve Tonniges, a York County, can see the benefit of solar power in the area.

“I’m all for renewable energy,” she said. “And being a sixth-generation farmer, I do very much understand that taking care of the earth and the land is integral to what we do as farmers.”

Beyond that, Tonniges said the project will help attract younger people to the area.

“I think that getting the solar project through is important to the community and any other potential investors in the community because they’ll see that the county is open to new investment, open to new industrial opportunities, and is open to change and growth,” she said.

The zoning board has proposed regulations that would make it harder to install solar panels.

Willard Peterson, another York County resident, hopes the hearing will help everyone reach a compromise.

“I don’t see it as a total, total negative at all,” he said. “And if we can help some, to me, that’s worth it.”

The board did not make any decisions on Monday. More meetings are planned on the project.