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Opinion: Canton resident has concerns about industrial-sized solar project

Posted 3/31/23

To the Editor: There has been much in the news lately about a variety of solar projects planned for Canton. And as I write this, on the last day of March, EDF Renewables is submitting their proposal …

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Opinion: Canton resident has concerns about industrial-sized solar project

Posted

To the Editor:

There has been much in the news lately about a variety of solar projects planned for Canton. And as I write this, on the last day of March, EDF Renewables is submitting their proposal to the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) for the Rich Road Solar Energy Center, a 240 MW Solar/20MW energy storage capacity on approximately 1,500 acres (2.3 square miles) in the town of Canton.

This is an industrial sized project designed to power over 60,000 homes, which is way more than the population of Canton, and it is my understanding that the power generated from the Rich Road Solar Center will be sent downstate and not utilized at all by the residents of either the village or the township of Canton. This is a project that is very different from the smaller sized community solar installments.

I fully support renewable, specifically local sustainable energy, for St. Lawrence County, yet I have various concerns about the massive size of this project and its implications for Canton and our local environment.

I bike and walk the roads of Canton and love the wildlife that surrounds our area. I watch the geese and birds fly overhead in their migration in the fall. I learned that it is estimated that between 50 to 60 million birds fly over St. Lawrence County every year in their autumn migration. And I wondered what impact this project would have on them and all our wildlife. I sincerely hope this is taken into full consideration with a solar project of this magnitude.

And that brought me to a bigger overarching question: why as a society are we needing more and more energy always? Why are our products built to become increasing obsolete? And these questions turned me to the need for conservation, to the preservation and appreciation of our beautiful land. And again, I hope that if this project is to move forward it will be done in respect of our precious Earth.

Paula Jensen-Moulton
Canton