A proposal for a massive solar farm in Leslie, Vevay and Onondaga townships is set to be reviewed by the state.
At 800 to 900 acres, the farm would be the size of more than 600 football fields. And would be able to generate 90 megawatts, or enough energy to power more than 60,000 homes.
Chris Potter, a Plains Road resident who lives near the proposed site, is not a fan of having a solar farm anywhere near the farmland he calls home.
“Nobody is happy that it’s going to be out here, if it happens,” Potter said on Monday. “I just wouldn’t like it because it’s farmland. Put your solar panels in a parking lot somewhere.”
The proposed farm, named Acceleration Solar Project, would be built on Plains Road, west of Tuttle Road.
Leslie Township already has a 575-acre solar farm on Plains Road, east of Tuttle Road.
Acceleration Solar Project leaders approached Michigan Public Service Commission last June after Leslie Township officials rejected their proposal because the solar farm would have violated a township cap of 575 acres on solar farms.
If built, the solar panels would sit on the northwest section of Leslie Township, southwest section of Vevay Township and a smaller northeast section of Onondaga Township.
Leslie Township supervisor Dallas Henney said on Monday that his community has already built its fair share of solar panels.
“It takes agricultural land out of production,” Henney said. “The township isn’t opposed to the solar, we just felt like we’ve done our job, our fair share already.”
Henney expects the state to decide on the project by the end of the year.