SOMERSET, N.Y. — Niagara County legislator Shawn Foti says plans for a 125MW solar farm would destroy "prime farmland" in the town of Somerset.
"All we've ever asked is that in the reuse of this property, for them to utilize the space and land inside of the former power plant," said Niagara County Legislator Shawn Foti. "Utilize that land first, before basically destroying prime farmland that has always been farmland.
Foti wrote a letter to the NYS Office of Renewable Energy Siting, asking that the project not be approved.
"We're basically calling on them to follow their own laws to protect the farmland," Foti said.
According to guidelines issued by NYSERDA, solar projects should only be allowed "if mitigation for agricultural impacts have been identified and addressed."
"They recommend to prohibit and to avoid using prime farmland first, and in this situation, we believe that that can be that can be done it is it is avoidable on this project," Foti said.
Beowulf Electricity & Data is the owner of the former coal-firing power plant on Rt. 18 in the town of Somerset. The fenced in portion of the facility contains the old power generating station, a landfill and other unused land.
The company also own several plots of land adjacent to the facility that, for decades, has been leased to farmers.
Beowulf awarded an RFP to a company called AES to develop the solar project.
"AES has been working on this for a couple of years now," Foti said. "Our conversations have been trying to push them towards not using the farmland, and they keep continuing to use cost is the only driving factor."
Foti says he is not anti-solar, and understands renewable energy needs to be part of the equation moving forward.
"But it can't be at the expense of prime farmland," Foti said. "That's our economic driver."
2 On Your Side reached out to AES regarding the project and the concerns of Legislator Foti, but we have not gotten a response.
A public hearing about the project will be held at the Barker Central School District auditorium, 1628 Quaker Road, on Tuesday, June 11 at 6 P.M.
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