Peter Yannakakis (standing), president of Solar Generation MW, talks about a proposed solar panel farm that would be built west of Chapin. Morgan County Board of Commissioners agreed to a memorandum of understanding with a subsidiary of the company during its meeting Monday.
A solar farm development planned for west of Chapin was the subject Monday of much discussion and criticism during a Morgan County Board of Commissioners meeting.
The board unanimously agreed during its meeting to a memorandum of understanding between itself and SG Chapin PV, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based solar company Solar Generation MW. The company wants to build a solar panel farm on 24 acres of land west of Chapin.
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Solar Generation MW President Peter Yannakakis spoke about the project during the meeting. The solar panel farm would generate 4.59 megawatts of energy at peak output for a "community solar project" that would provide renewable energy to customers unable to put solar panels on their property, he said. The electricity would be sold to Ameren Illinois; customers who subscribe to the project would receive a 10% discount on their electricity bills, he said.
"It's kind of a win-win for all," Yannakakis said.
The farm would be built along Neelyville Road and Grants Lane, Yannakakis said. No vegetative screening would be put up to conceal the solar panels from view because there are no neighbors near its proposed construction site, he said. Construction would take from six to 12 months to complete and the company has taken out a 25-year lease on the land, he said.
Yannakakis fielded numerous questions during the meeting from both the board and county residents, some of whom were skeptical about what the company was putting forth. The farm is not part of Ameren's efforts to create large-load projects around the country, nor is the company working with any closed-loop data center programs, he said.
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Solar Generation MW will issue a $300,000 bond to deconstruct the farm at the end of its lease and return the land to "the state it's in right now," Yannakakis said.
Some residents said that amount of money will  not be enough to undo whatever damage construction of the farm could cause.
"How's $300,000 going to … replace the nutrients that are lost?" county resident Kristy Clegg asked. "You're going to kill that ground. That ground is not going to be viable ground ever again."
Commissioner Michael Woods noted that the county can review the amount of money in the decommissioning bond 10 years after the solar panel farm goes online and every five years afterward.
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Some residents also took issue with the lack of a plan for vegetative screening around the site.
Resident Cody Smith said a screen would provide habitats for local fauna, such as deer and pollinators. Lucy Reid of Jacksonville asked whether the company would plant screening if someone chose to move near the proposed site within the next 25 years, noting that residents often drive past the area.
"You're not doing it today, but we have to live here for 25 years," Reid said.
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Board Chair Michael Wankel said the company is not required by the state to put up screening around the site; a county ordinance that would mandate it still is under review.
However, Yannakakis said he would talk with the county about adding screening to the site "with the plan of doing it."
Ben Singson became a reporter for the Journal-Courier in 2022, joining after graduating from the University of Missouri-Columbia. The Lindenhurst native previously reported for KBIA, an NPR affiliate radio station, in college.
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