HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP202200014 Correspondence 2022-05-16HE)(AGON
ENERGY
May 16, 2022
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, Planning Commission, and Staff
401 McIntire Rd
Charlottesville, VA 22902
To whom it may concern,
My name is Scott Reiner, and I am a Director of Development at Hexagon Energy, a Charlottesville -based
renewable energy company that develops and builds solar arrays around the country with a special focus
on our home state, Virginia. I am very pleased to introduce Woodridge Solar, a proposed 138MW utility -
scale solar project in southeast Albemarle County, to you.
Woodridge Solar will be located along Secretary's Road in the Scottsville Magisterial District and will
connect to high -voltage power lines owned by Dominion that run right through the property. The array
will have a nameplate capacity of 138MW (alternating current), which will produce power for the
equivalent of 25,000 homes. That's local, clean, non -imported energy for the equivalent of over half of
Albemarle's 45,000 households, helping to both meet Albemarle's ambitious greenhouse gas emission
reduction goals and to bolster the region's energy security,
independent of oil and its fluctuating prices.
Woodridge Solar will be sited on about 630 acres of a 2,300-
acre industrial timber tract. All panels and fences will be a
minimum of 200 feet away from any property lines and will
be screened from neighboring properties or streets by a
combination of planted or existing forest at least 100 feet
thick, an additional evergreen screening buffer in high -
visibility areas, and a 100-foot-thick grassy meadow buffer.
Bee- and butterfly -friendly grasses and plants will be planted
and maintained under and around the panels. This project
will establish several hundred acres of stream buffers,
wetlands buffers, and meadows, allowing the land under and
around the array a chance to rest after nearly a century of
commercial logging. The project will maintain a minimum
100-foot buffer from all streams and wetlands, in compliance
with the County's Water Protection Ordinance, which did not
apply to the prior timbering activities.
Soutbe Xbemade
County Map
WOODRIDGE SOLAR
We have already conducted preliminary outreach to various community stakeholders, including the
321 E. Main St. I Suite Soo I Charlottesville, VA 22902
P 434.227.5o90 hexagon-energycom
HE)(AGON
ENERGY
owners of nearby wineries, Monticello, the Woodridge Sportsmen's club that currently hunts the land,
and regional conservation groups. Informal conversations with these organizations are ongoing and we
expect to expand our outreach in the coming months. I have also sent an introductory letter, similar to
this one, to all property owners within a quarter mile of the proposed project's parcel boundaries. I
anticipate spending time over the next several months engaging with the community, hearing their
feedback, and finding ways to help Woodridge Solar holistically fit the County's needs.
At a time when our land use choices carry such weight for the future of our community and our climate,
it is worth asking whether or not such a large utility -scale solar project can be appropriately sited to
avoid impacts on environmental, agricultural, and historic resources, especially in rural communities.
We are aware of these challenges at Hexagon Energy, and we have carefully sited and designed the
project to avoid or minimize any such impacts, while still generating power at a scale that is
commensurate with the immediate climate change challenge. The project is to be set on highly
disturbed timber land, much of which has been recently logged, so it will not impact agricultural
production, but rather allow the land to rest. The newly planted meadow environment around the
arrays will allow the soil to rest and recuperate over the 35-year life of the project. Large-scale solar
arrays produce the most affordable electricity in Virginia, at about half the cost of solar sited on
rooftops. Utility -scale solar must be carefully sited to balance cost, environmental and resource
protection, and community needs, and I believe that Woodridge Solar is uniquely suited to achieve that
balance for Albemarle County.
There are many facets to a large project such as this, and I would love to discuss them with you. My
email address is sremerohexagon-energy.comand my phone number is 434-227-5087. I would be
happy to meet with you, in person or otherwise, to discuss project details, share more about our plan,
and hear any of your ideas or concerns so we can help preserve and grow Albemarle wisely and
responsibly. I am of the opinion that there is no better place to live in the country than Albemarle
County, and I think Woodridge Solar can help keep it that way.
Sincerely,
"J. Scott Remer
Director of Development
7)]
321 E. Main St. I Suite 5oo I Charlottesville, VA 22902
P 434.227.50go hexagon-energycom