The Pulaski County Commissioners continued discussions on moratoriums on Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), carbon capture projects, data centers, and future industrial solar projects during their meeting Tuesday morning.
Commissioner Jenny Knebel previously stated that the county has the ability to protect the health, safety, welfare and shared values when it comes to these types of projects and the county needs to have safety measures in place before any more developers submit paperwork for projects. She stated a moratorium would give the county a chance to put a pause on future developments so the right ordinances can be in place to protect the county.
She explained that she attended a gathering in Huntington County where she was updated on a lot of facets about solar projects. She said it was good to learn that moratoriums have no time limit to give county officials time to make decisions to best protect the county. She also received updates on the disposal of solar panels when the project is done, property values, and the lack of property taxes when the solar projects are turned over to utility companies.
During the commissioners meeting earlier this month, the commissioners agreed to have County Attorney Jacob Ahler draft paperwork for the commissioners to consider in terms of moratoriums to be sent to the Advisory Plan Commission members to approve, reject or amend. Further action would need to take place by the commissioners following action by the Plan Commission. Those documents will be reviewed in a future meeting.
