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Kansas City officials are blaming the Trump administration for a delay in a proposed 3,100-acre solar project at the Kansas City International Airport they claim would have powered thousands of homes.
The delay is indefinite because of a cut in federal funding, according to Mayor Quinton Lucas who said the project, set to become one of the largest solar farms at a U.S. airport, will no longer move forward.
“Without these funding sources, the KCI solar project has a funding gap that is difficult to overcome,” Lucas wrote in the announcement. The project was slated to be built on 3,100 acres of undeveloped land near the airport and was expected to eventually produce 500 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 70,000 homes, according to a 2022 city feasibility study.
In his announcement Friday, Mayor Lucas said the newfound funding gap was due to a shift in priorities by the current federal administration, but that clean energy remains a top priority in Kansas City.
“Leaders come and go, but the value of investment in cleaner and more sustainable energy will never go away in a world confronting higher energy prices, high utility costs, and extreme weather events and conditions here and everywhere,” Lucas said.
The Kansas City Star reported that the 2022 study recommended completing the project in phases, the first of which required a $9-15 million investment to install panels on 136 acres, producing 35 megawatts, which would power around 4,500 homes.
At the time, the study recommended completing the project in phases, the first of which required a $9-15 million investment to install panels on 136 acres, producing 35 megawatts, which would power around 4,500 homes.
However, construction was multiple years behind schedule and never began. Jackson Overstreet, a spokesperson for the city, said the airport won’t experience any operational impacts because of the project’s pause.
Jerry Bohnen is the founder and creator of OK Energy Today, which began in 2012. He is an Edward R. Murrow Investigative award winner and has been recognized by other national, regional and state institutions during his 50 years as a broadcast journalist. Contact Jerry at editor@okenergytoday.com
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