BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
A Plaisance area resident says she regrets watching her previous enjoyment of life disappear amid construction work performed on a $170 million Prairie Ronde solar energy farm project that is approaching completion near her residence.
“I was told (the solar farm) would improve my standard of living. I think that it has actually lowered the standard of living for me and some of my neighbors,” Doris White told members of a St. Landry Parish Council Administrative Committee last week.
It was the second time this year that White has appeared before the Council and complained about the plant which Lightsource bp officials say is employing about 100 workers.
White pointed out that she and others living nearby are retirees who exist financially on fixed incomes.
Many of those are farmers who have had their routines interrupted by daily construction noise which has included erecting solar arrays, inverters and transformers.
At night White said she is bothered by the lack of solitude and the amount of construction lights now shining through her windows..
The area where she lives was once a lot quieter, White indicated.
“Now comes the (solar) plant, the light and the noise. Now we are being told there will soon be windmills along with the solar panels,” said White.
Parish president Jessie Bellard told White that just the opposite is happening as the 900-acre Lightsource bp project heads towards completion possibly at the end of 2024.
“The property values have gone up tremendously and the area around there is going now for $6,500 an acre in some cases. The farmers and the landowners who live in your area have a right to put what they want on their property,” added Bellard.
Property owners involved with the Prairie Ronde project have in most cases, leased their land to Lightsource bp for extended periods.
Bellard said information about windmills farms that White provided to the Council appears to be accurate.
“There are two companies that have been talking to (parish officials). From what we know there will be energy farms involving windmills on 13,000 acres from Acadia, this parish and into Evangeline,” said Bellard.
Bellard said property located outside rural subdivisions remains unaffected by zoning ordinances.
“We don’t have zoning laws, so we have to let people do what they want to with their property. People love to have their freedom with their land until something gets next to the door. We have to follow the law. If there is an issue (with property) then it can be brought to court, but people who do can’t win,” Bellard said.
According to an informational bulletin posted on the Lightsource bp website in July, the company has completed work on the solar panels, inverters and two transformers.
Inverters help turn DC power generated by solar panels into usable AC power, the Lightsource website update indicates.
What remains to be completed, the company bulletin added, is completion for the operations and maintenance building along with equipment testing and preparing the sit for energization.
