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by Darwin Singleton
BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (NBC 15) —
It began with a protest and a prayer Residents of the Stockton community, along with some Baldwin County officials and candidates for office lined the street Wednesday night in front of Bay Minette City Hall. They were there to make known their displeasure about a proposed solar farm planed for thousands of acres in their community… one that many said they had little or no advanced warning before the plan was approved through the state's public service commission.
The protest came just an hour before a public hearing by Silicon Ranch, the company planning to build the farm.
It was a hearing many of these protesters approached with suspicion and doubt.
"We've got a lot of people on board but there's a lot of people that don't even know this is happening," said protester Jay Gunn, who operates an inshore charter fishing company. "And we're looking at, basically 10 thousand acres in north-north Baldwin County that's gonna be taken out of public or recreational use in perpetuity."
"People are more curious. Everyone I've talked to has said they look forward to learning more about the project, and we're excited to share. It's a great story for Baldwin County."
That's Silicon Ranch's founder and CEO, Reagan Farr, who knew he had a touch selling job before him Wednesday evening, a challenge he's faced before.
"I think there's some misinformation out there that we can correct."
Farr says one of the reasons they went to the state public service commission about the deal before many in the public knew about it is because the state required them to do so.
"The only thing that was different than what we generally do is because Alabama Power had to being something to the public service commission. That public service commission meeting, it was required for us to actually have a contract with Alabama Power, and we wanted to have a contract, so we knew there was a project, and then we were going to engage in our community outreach in a large format like this."
It's a procedure that protestor Jeff Ramsey, a candidate for Alabama Public Service Commissioner says ought to be changed.
"If that is the case, if that is the scenario, then the PSC should change that, because if anybody is trying to do business within Alabama, they should ask the Alabama people before they go to businesses and say this or say that or whatever, to see what the public interest is first."
Taking the public's temperature was exactly what Silicon Ranch's intent was as the meeting got underway. The audience listened patiently as the CEO shared pictures and videos from other company projects, using livestock instead of herbicides to keep down unwanted vegetation, touting their methods as a way to improve the soil and habitat for natural wildlife as well.
"We have been on a journey of turning our entire land portfolio into regenerative land management," Farr told the audience. "And that has meant that a power company, Silicon Ranch, we now own the largest flock of sheep in the southeast, we are a member of the National Land Improvement Program."
Did the night's presentation sway the doubters in the Stockton community? That answer to that question can probably be found over the next few days online, were most of the opposition and organization against the solar farm project has been cultivated.
2026 Sinclair, Inc.
