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Board grants 18‑month extension for USS Hilltop Solar project; developer cites permitting and PPA delays
Summary
Supervisors approved an extension modifying the construction start and completion dates for a proposed 3.3 MW Hilltop solar facility, after the developer described longer lead times for equipment and a pending power‑purchase agreement (PPA) with Dominion Energy.
The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors on April 14 approved an amendment to the special-exception permit for USS Hilltop Solar LLC, extending the required construction-start and project-completion deadlines for a proposed roughly 3.3‑megawatt AC solar facility on Loitally Road in Natural Bridge Station.
County staff presented the applicant’s request to amend condition 9 of the January 2024 special-exception permit, which originally required implementation by May 1, 2025 and completion by Dec. 31, 2025. The planning commission recommended revision to require construction to commence before May 1, 2026 and project completion by June 30, 2027; the board approved that change.
Dan Sapler, senior project developer with USS Hilltop Solar LLC, told supervisors the pace of approvals and procurement has taken longer than expected. “I was definitely over my skis in thinking that we could get this thing built in two years,” Sapler said, then outlined a timeline showing a planned PPA signature with Dominion in August 2025, module and racking lead times of roughly six to seven months, and transformer lead times up to a year. Sapler said the PPA milestone is critical to secure construction financing and to allow equipment procurement.
Public comment included both technical and policy skepticism: one speaker questioned whether industrial solar projects are chiefly sustained by tax‑credit trading rather than long-term power sales; others urged the board to hold the developer to a short extension and to require proof of financing and permitting before further extensions. A planning-commission hearing was held March 12 and the commission recommended approval.
Supervisors discussed whether conditions could be tied to securing a PPA or financing; county staff explained the board’s authority is limited to the advertised amendment and that further conditions must be related to the specific permit and advertised modifications. The extension was approved; the board recorded a roll-call vote (Lyons — yes; Lewis — yes; McDaniel — no; Day — no; Chair Harris — yes), resulting in a 3–2 approval.
The approval changes the project schedule in the county’s permit language; staff said USS Hilltop Solar must still complete county-required erosion and sediment control and stormwater reviews and obtain any applicable state permits before construction.
