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Nelson County approves Wild Rose Solar permit and siting agreement with 40-year limit
Summary
After extensive public comment and debate over zoning, aesthetics and local control, the Nelson County Board of Supervisors approved a 90-megawatt Wild Rose Solar special-use permit and a siting agreement that includes $230,000 in annual voluntary payments and a $10,000 annual South District scholarship; the SUP will expire 40 years after commercial operation.
The Nelson County Board of Supervisors voted 3–1 on Jan. 14 to approve Special Use Permit #24-0014 for the Wild Rose Solar Project and to accept a siting agreement with the developer, provisions that board members said balance local control with financial benefits to the county.
The project is proposed on approximately 4,646.8 acres in the Gladstone area with about 470 acres proposed to be covered by solar panels and is described by county staff as a 90-megawatt utility-scale facility. Under the siting agreement presented to the Board, the developer added an annual voluntary payment of $230,000 (Operational Years 1–40), equal to $9.2 million over 40 years, and committed to a $10,000 scholarship paid annually to a student from the South District for a proposed total of $400,000 over the same period. The Board also adopted a condition that the SUP will expire on the 40th anniversary of the project's commercial operation date unless the Board extends it.
Why it mattered: The vote follows months of public…
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