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By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
Wood Duck Solar, the nearly 2,300 acre solar project planned in western Barren County, has its final hearing tomorrow, Oct. 2, in Frankfort.
The hearing will be in the Public Service Commission’s office at 211 Sowers Blvd. in Frankfort. Sheri Mahan with the Public Service Commission said the meeting will take place at noon and will be “the last opportunity for the company and the public to present their case.” The deadline for members of the Electric Generation and Transmission Siting Board to make a decision in the case is Nov. 14, according to Mahan.
Wood Duck Solar first received development plan approval at the Dec. 18, 2023 Joint City-County Planning Commission with Gregory Dutton, an attorney with Frost Brown Todd and a representative for Geenex, the development company of Wood Duck Solar, saying it involves 28 tracts of land along Waller, New Bowling Green, Oak Grove, Millstown, Apple Grove, Park City Bon Ayr, Disman, Mayhew, R. Crump and Dripping Springs roads and 17 landowners.
Since its local development plan approval, some residents of Barren County and Mammoth Cave National Park have opposed the solar farm. The Barren County Fiscal Court passed a solar ordinance in May by a 5-2 vote that requires solar projects to have a 1,000-foot setback from “any non-participating property line and from any right-of-way for a publicly maintained roadway or rail line” and a decommissioning plan.
Barren County Judge-Executive Jamie Bewley Byrd submitted a letter to the Public Service Commission on Sept. 19 clarifying that the ordinance would not apply to the Wood Duck Solar project unless “the project is expanded beyond its currently proposed scope.”
Instructions for public comment are posted on the PCS website at https://psc.ky.gov. An icon on the page will direct people to the livestream Thursday, which will also be available at https://www.youtube.com/@KYPSC/streams.
The complete application, a description of the review process, mitigation measures and conditions, public comments, and other case filings are available at https://psc.ky.gov/Case/ViewCaseFilings/2024-00337. The case number to access case documentation through the website is 2024-00337.
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