A public hearing will be held Aug. 15 in Plover on a proposed solar farm in Portage County.
As planned the project by Vista Sands Solar, LLC, an affiliate of Doral Renewables, would place solar panels and other infrastructure on about 7,110 acres adjacent to or near the Buena Vista Grassland State Wildlife Area, home of the state's largest population of threatened prairie chickens.
The final Environmental Impact Statement on the project cites concerns about the proposal's likely negative impacts to the prairie chickens, even if mitigation suggestions are followed.
The review’s primary recommendation asks the Public Service Commission to require the developer to remove 10 of its primary areas for solar arrays, as well as four alternate sites. A secondary option would involve removing slightly fewer areas from the project. While the latter would reduce impacts, regulators say negative effects would likely remain.
“Should the Commission choose to order this secondary recommendation instead of the primary recommendation, any cumulative adverse impacts of past, present, and future projects will be heightened and may reduce the long-term viability of Wisconsin’s (greater prairie-chicken) population,” the document states.
The solar farm would be constructed on leased, private parcels in the Village of Plover and towns of Buena Vista, Grant and Plover. The general area is southwest of the city of Plover and lies south of Highway 54 and west of Interstate 39.
Vista Sands Solar says the facility would produce approximately 1,300 megawatts of power and about 300 megawatts of battery storage. It would be four times larger than the Badger Hollow Solar farm, the biggest solar farm currently operating in the state.
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Due to its planned proximity to Buena Vista Grasslands, many conservationists and wildlife advocates have urged changes to the proposal.
Nearly 80% of the 400 comments received in a June public input period specifically mentioned "GPC (greater prairie chicken) concerns."
The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation said in its testimony the "best available scientific research would indicate that there should be a minimum of a one-half mile setback of the solar arrays from the grassland habitat on the Buena Vista Wildlife Area and a minimum of a one-mile distance between the solar arrays and (prairie chicken) leks."
The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology and Peter D. Ziegler of Slinger, past president of The Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. (a conservation group dedicated to prairie chickens) also pushed for the one-half and one mile setbacks.
The final EIS did not require those benchmarks, however. The Department of Natural Resources and Public Service Commission released the final EIS on July 15.
The public has another opportunity to provide comments on the proposed solar farm as well as to attend a public hearing on the plan.
Aug. 16 is the deadline to submit comments. To comment by mail, send it to Docket 9820-CE-100 Comments Public Service Commission P.O. Box 7854 Madison WI 53707-7854.
To comment via the Internet, visit apps.psc.wi.gov , select the "file a comment" tab and select the link under the "Vista Sands Solar Farm" entry.
The public hearing will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Best Western Hotel & Convention Center, 5253 Harding Avenue, Plover WI 54467. Remote participation is also available via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/my/pschearings or by phone at (312) 626-6799 meeting ID 809 513 2930.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Public hearing, comment period last chances to weigh on proposed Portage County solar farm
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