Panel endorses big Sioux Falls solar farm

A proposal to build a large solar farm on the outskirts of Sioux Falls won approval Monday from city and county planning commissioners.

Geronimo Energy, a Minnesota-based renewable energy developer, is proposing to build a 10-megawatt solar farm on 100 acres of land about one mile east of 57th Street and South Ellis Road, near 268th Street and 468th Avenue.

Tena Rytel, a solar project developer with Geronimo, said the company sees a growing need for electricity in Sioux Falls. Its $25 million Cherry Creek solar farm would generate enough electricity to power about 2,000 homes.

Steve Wegman, an analyst with the South Dakota Renewable Energy Association in Rapid City, said it's strange to see such a project proposed in South Dakota, which doesn't offer the same incentives for solar projects as neighboring states such as Minnesota do.

"You pay the full tax load even though, at best, you can use it only 50 percent of the time," Wegman said. "I think they're just testing the water, personally."

Geronimo representatives told planning commissioners the power generated would be used locally, and that it's working on an agreement to sell the electricity to Xcel Energy.

Minnehaha County planner David Heinold told the planning commission that Geronimo chose the location because the landowner, Cynthia Klein Robinson, was interested, and it provided an easy connection to Xcel's system.

Some residents expressed concern about how the solar farm would look.

"Solar energy is very attractive," said Nathan Earl, who lives southeast of the project. "I think that maybe farm fields aren't the best place for them." He said European countries are moving toward putting solar panels on rooftops.

The panels will be 10 to 12 feet tall and surrounded by a chain-link security fence topped in barbed wire.

Rytel said the effect is minimal. There are no lights on the panels and glare would not a problem, she said.

"Every day that I'm home … I'm having to see those panels straight out of the front of my house," Kent Braunesreither told the commission.

The project is across 57th Street, in front of his house. Between them, would be a 500-foot buffer.

For Dan Hein, the project would be behind his backyard.

His home on 468th Avenue is within 100 feet from the project boundary. A grove of trees separates them, but Hein said it's not enough.

Corn and other crops would continue to grow in the buffer zone.

"When the corn is up, you actually can't see them," Rytel said.

Neighbors said the corn isn't always 6-feet high, and it's not always corn that's planted there.

Rytel said the company could plant tall grass instead, but said trees would shade the panels.

The change to the country landscape is significant, but this project will have more cover than a typical electrical substation, city planning commission member Jessie Schmidt said.

The joint city and county planning commission unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for the project.

Braunesreither said neighbors will appeal the commission decision. They have until 5 p.m. Monday to file an appeal with the county planning office.

The project also will need to go through an environmental review process.

Construction probably wouldn't start until March 2016, and the solar panels would start making electricity in December of that year.

Cherry CreekSolar Project

A solar farm being built by Geronimo Energy is going through the permitting process, but neighbors say they will appeal.

LOCATION: 268th Street (57th Street) and 468th Avenue, about two miles east of Wild Water West.

GENERATION: 10 megawatts, enough to power 2,000 homes, to be sold through Xcel Energy.

WHEN: Construction to start spring 2016, operational by December 2016.

COST: $25 million.