Community calls for renewed city backing to complete Sunnyside landfill solar project

Speakers urged the council on Feb. 4 to renew support for plans to build a community- and commercial-scale solar installation on a closed landfill in Sunnyside and to help secure energy buyers that would enable full site restoration and construction.

Dori Wolf, who described herself as a volunteer with Solar United Neighbors and a Sunnyside native, recalled community leader Ephraim Jernigan, who helped organize local students and residents around a plan for a solar farm on a 240-acre closed landfill bisected by Incinerator Road. Wolf said permits are in place for a 2-megawatt community solar farm and a 50-megawatt commercial solar farm with battery storage, and she said the project could generate enough power to serve "up to 10,000 homes, according to ERCOT, at no cost to the taxpayer." She asked the council to help find offtakers and to "double down" on support to finish the project in Jernigan's memory.

Councilmembers Evan Shabazz and Carter told the audience they had met with community representatives and supported seeking ways to move the project forward. Shabazz said the community was "still supporting this" and that Jernigan's contributions had drawn a large turnout at his service; Carter said he would work with council colleagues to resolve outstanding hurdles around energy procurement, storage and financing.

Speakers asked the council to help find commercial energy buyers and to prioritize a final agreement that would include site restoration, maintenance funded by energy revenues, and community benefits such as local jobs and clean-energy access for Sunnyside residents.

Ending

Councilmembers acknowledged the project's long history and said they would coordinate with community groups and city staff to address the remaining financing and procurement questions that are delaying construction.