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EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — East Windsor community members continue to push back against a solar panel expansion project after the Connecticut Siting Council approved the expansion on March 5.
Gravel Pit Solar now has the green light from the state to expand on 150 more acres and add 30 megawatts of power.
People in town said their protests of the expansion fell on deaf ears after the state decided to move forward with the project.
“When you don’t have that choice anymore, you’re losing that small-town America that a lot of people appreciate,” said resident Brandon Knoll. “I like living in the suburbs, but now you’re forcing industry and the new surge of technology in my community. I don’t really get a say in that.”
Knoll, who grew up in the area, said the town’s rejection of the expansion isn’t just about losing their farmland and environmental resource—it’s also about how they were left out of the decision-making process from day one.
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East Windsor’s population is just over 11,000, and about 2,000 people signed an online petition against the expansion.
“I think that should be a little bit more of an option, as opposed to saying, ‘We’re gonna do it right here.’ It should be almost put up to a vote of who is going to benefit from it most, who has the most land and resources to allocate for this?” Knoll said.
East Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza hears why people are upset—it’s the same reasons he and the board are disappointed with the decision to allow expansion.
He said they are doing everything they can to halt the project’s growth, and that they have already started the appeal process to reverse the decision.
“The Siting Council is not considering the impact that they’re having on only a few municipalities that they continue to approve these projects in,” he said.
Despite the valid concerns town members brought up, Bowsza said the state continues pushing more projects on them without asking.
“We have 25% of the cited renewable energy in the state of Connecticut, all without having any local involvement in the siting or decision-making around any of it,” Bowsza said.
FOX61 reached out to Gravel Pit Solar about why they want to expand despite pushback from the town but did not immediately hear back.
Their website says the expansion will “deliver affordable, renewable energy to customers in Connecticut – producing enough clean energy to power approximately 4,500 homes.”
Solen Aref is a Multi-Skilled Journalist for FOX61.com. She can be reached by email at SAref@FOX61.com.
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