Geronimo Power, an energy firm out of Minneapolis, Minn. is in the early stages of a solar farm and power plant project that will straddle the Jasper-Lawrence county line.
The solar project will span more than 2,000 acres in area, as the necessary land has already been obtained by the company.
Geronimo delivered their plan to the Lawrence County Commission in a meeting on March 30. At the meeting, citizens of Lawrence County appeared in the dozens to make known their disapproval of the project.
Citizens raised concerns about potential water usage, noise pollution and the potential raising of energy bills.
 
Spring River moniker
The solar farm, known as Spring River, will be similar to many of the other projects that have been undertaken in recent years by Geronimo; this particular farm will span about 2,040 acres and be used to generate about 150 megawatts of power in order to help power the potential data center that could be installed near La Russell. Solar panels will not cover all of the necessary power that such an ambitious facility would need, however, said Ryan Butterfield, vice president of strategy at Geronimo. According to Butterfield, they would need much more power to cover the usage of a data center, because of this, another power project would need to be constructed, or the data center would have to draw power from the grid.
Drawing power from the grid does not necessarily mean that the power will come from local communities, however, said Butterfield. The power could be accessed from a variety of areas, even from as far as Kansas.
“In addition to a solar project there would have to be other [forms of generation],” said Butterfield. “[The power] doesn’t have to be right there, it can be all over the place.”
 
In talks before 2020
The solar project actually began long before the meeting with the commission, with Butterfield stating that it has been in development since before 2020. Despite this long development time, the project has still not begun construction and Spring River is not yet a guarantee.
“On the solar project, we’re working with the counties on what that overall looks like,” said Butterfield. “ We still have a lot of elements for the solar project before it’s a go.”
Land has already been secured for the project which was achieved by obtaining leases from area landowners. Lawrence County does not have any zoning restrictions so Geronimo can build as they wish on the land that they lease.
 
Early listening phase
The data center is also in what the company describes as an “early listening phase.” The data center would need to be supported by the solar panels but according to Butterfield the projects are completely separate. Neither project has yet found a customer, which is a hurdle in development, primarily for the data center.
According to Butterfield, the data center could house AI or cloud data depending on who chooses to patronize it. Butterfield said it is not out of the realm of possibility for a company such as Google or Amazon to use the facility.
 
Concerns from community
The data center could bring jobs to the area but it has also raised concerns among citizens, concerns that Geronimo is attempting to quell. Despite this backlash, Butterfield maintains that the community should see benefits from both of these projects.
“We’re looking forward to working with them to listen to their concerns and [finding] ways to mitigate those,” said Butterfield.
One of the biggest points of controversy is that of the water usage of a data facility. This is something that Geronimo and Butterfield hope to remedy by implementing a recycled cooling system, system that reuses the water already in circulation rather than drawing new resources.
Butterfield acknowledged the opposition from members of the community, stating that the company does not want to be where they are unwanted.
“Ultimately, we want to be where people want us and see value in what we’re doing,” said Butterfield.
Butterfield said that there are still no guarantees that either of these projects will happen. Because of this, many of the details regarding the projects are still hazy, particularly as it applies to the data center. It remains to be seen whether the ventures will be undertaken at all.
   
312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com

312 S. Hickory St.
Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com

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