Iberville Parish Council members shot down a proposal from Entergy that would have paved the way for a solar farm south of Plaquemine.
The 7-4 vote with one absentee put the brakes on Cypress Harvest Solar, which was proposed on a 1,600-acre tract just southwest of Plaquemine along La. 75.
The project would have occupied former sugarcane fields five miles from Plaquemine city limits, nestled between Mille Plantation and Derrick Road, adjacent to Belleview Road.
Board members Terry Bradford, Freddie Frazier, Charles Dardenne and Trent Martinez approved the measure.
Board members Shalanda Allen, Chasity Easley, Thomas Dominique Sr., Raheem Pierce, Hunter Markins, Matt Jewell and Bart Morgan voted against it.
Council member Nadia Jenkins was absent.
The meeting drew an overflow crowd, including approximately 20 spectators who watched from a screen in the corridor outside the chamber.
The vote followed a lengthy discussion and comments from supporters and opponents of the proposed project.
Resident Garry Harrell, one of the residents opposed to the project, asked council members to withhold all final construction, drainage and operating permits on the project until the development until ordinances are put in place to guarantee safe conditions for the project.
“While landowners possess property rights, those rights do not override the various fundamental duty to protect human health, local groundwater, safety, and environmental issues,” he said. “I request that the Iberville Parish Council withhold all final construction, drainage, and operating permits for this project until the development of bills that outline safety conditions.”
Entergy said the solar project would address power demand increase on the Westbank. It would also speed up large-scale power generation in the region.
Entergy had been reaching out nearly five years to generational landowners about land acquisition, Entergy Regional Manager Seth Schilling told the Council.
“From Day One, our priority has been to listen,” he said. “We met with the administration, council members, industry leaders, and the community understand what Iberville Parish expects from a project of this scale.”
The Parish Council approved a solar ordinance in 2023, and its regulations drew no opposition.
It promoted Entergy to move forward, Schilling said.
“We took that action very seriously, and I spent millions of dollars today developing our project,” he said. “We built our project around the standards, requirements, and expectations established by this parish and this body, and ensured compliance and exceeding of many of those ordinance requirements.”
Entergy had reached out to the Wilbert and Gay families, who are among the largest landowners in Iberville Parish.
Both families have generational ties to their respective land holdings.
Schilling said project had been brought before parish engineers before it moved forward to the Council for review.
“We are not asking for special treatment or changes to the rules,” he said. “We are asking simply for the opportunity to move forward under the rules you established through a very public, thorough process, which we respect and appreciate.
“We recognize that projects like this can generate strong opinion. Social media misinformation can sometimes amplify concerns, but throughout this process, our commitment has remained the same — to listen, to engage in good faith, to follow the process, and to be a responsible partner, to integral parish and its residents.”
He said the purpose of the project extends beyond the mere generation of electricity.
“It’s about creating lasting value for the parish, and the state as a whole,” Schilling said.” Demand for electricity is an all-time high, and it’s a regulated utility. We have an obligation to provide reliable, affordable power.”
Klein Kirby, Chairman of A. Wilbert Sons LLC, said his company had negotiated a lease agreement in July 2021 — two years before the Parish Council established the solar ordinance in a public.
“The public records show there was no opposition tot that ordinance from the public at the time,” he told the Council. “When the Council passed that ordinance, they gave landowners and project a reasonable expectation of stability and predictability.”
He fears the move the parish’s vote will create a bad precedent.
“We should be careful not to set a precedent that requires landowners to submit every lawful use of private property to a public vote,” Kirby said. “Perhaps our greatest concern tonight is the preservation of landowner rights.”
Meanwhile, Parish President Chris Daigle is concerned about the message the Council’s rejection could send to other industries considering Iberville as a place to conduct business.
“It’s an important topic — landowner’s rights,” Daigle said. “But tonight the Council members decided to not follow an ordinance they put in place.”
Iberville Parish Government will have 30 days to provide Entergy a reason the Council denied the request.
“At that time, we will see what happens,” Daigle said. “The project met all the guidelines, but the Council members decided not to approve it … we’ll see what the next steps are.”
Council member Casity Easley, who opposed the bill, said she could not approve the proposal as it was presented.
She said had not been presented any updated information about the project
Other issues also prompted her to oppose the request.
“With a school (Plaquemine High) nearby, the lack of jobs protected from this project, along with the loss of agriculture and pushback from District 2 and other constituents over their concerns, I cannot support this project.”
Regardless of why the Council denied the measure, Daigle believes their actions send a bad message for any business looking to invest in Iberville Parish.
“It definitely sets a bad precedence for any business looking to invest in Iberville Parish,” he said. “They set guidelines, but now they don’t want to follow them.
“A lot of people think Iberville is rich in industry, but you’ve got to have the supporting infrastructure to support the additional investments. It’s the same with power plants … we have multiple power plants looking to invest in Iberville because of the needs, so we must be mindful of our decision because that may impact other decisions coming down the road.”

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