LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Orion Renewable Energy met with residents Wednesday at the Calcasieu Parish Library in Moss Bluff to discuss its proposed Persimmon Energy Center, a solar farm spanning nearly 5,000 acres that has drawn mixed reactions from the surrounding community.
The one-on-one conversations gave residents a chance to ask questions and voice concerns directly to Orion representatives.
“We’ve heard a lot that there’s out there about, you know, different questions and concerns that some people might have,” said Alicia Wheeler, senior project developer for Orion Renewable Energy. “We just want to have those one-on-one direct conversations so people can ask those questions, voice those concerns, and we can incorporate them into how we develop our project.”
Several residents spent as long as an hour talking with company representatives. Some said they left with the clarification they needed, while others remain firmly opposed.
“I was against it, because I see… I drive trucks and I see solar panels all over and they’re messed up, tore up,” said Tommy Lejeune, a resident. “But I don’t like the idea at all.”
Among the top concerns raised by residents and elected officials alike is a widely circulated LSU review suggesting property values within a mile of solar facilities can drop by nearly 7%. Wheeler pushed back on how that review has been characterized.
“That was not an actual study. It was a literature review,” Wheeler said. “So it wasn’t a study that was done on any existing or operating solar project here in Louisiana.”
Wheeler said the review examined six previously conducted studies — four in the U.S. and two in Europe — and found no direct impact on property values for projects located in rural areas.
“They went and actually reviewed some studies that had, you know, been conducted previously,” Wheeler said. “And that study determined that projects in rural areas, there was no direct impact on those properties.”
Residents have also raised questions about a newly proposed data center rumored to be built near the solar facility. Wheeler said the two projects are not connected.
“We are in no way in negotiations or any discussions with any data center,” Wheeler said. “Right now, like to our knowledge, is that we don’t even know if something like that is even happening. It sounds like it’s more hearsay than an actual, this is going to happen kind of situation.”
Wheeler said feedback gathered from Wednesday’s conversations could still shape changes to the project’s design moving forward.
Orion officials say they plan to file for a special exception and submit a permit application for the Persimmon Energy Center to Calcasieu Parish by the end of the year.
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