LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Six weeks before facing voters, Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton is defending a veto that split her own council, using a former landfill turned solar farm to make her case.
Gorton vetoed a council-approved ordinance in September that would have allowed large-scale solar on agricultural land. She says the Haley Pike landfill solar project is the model she supports instead.
Edelen Renewables says that because the Haley Pike landfill has been capped, the land is sitting unused, so the company is turning it into a solar project.
“We believe in protecting prime farmland, so we only develop on brownfields like coal mines, landfills, or old industrial areas,” said Adam Edelen, CEO and founder of Edelen Renewables.
Edelen said the company approached the city about the Haley Pike landfill because he saw an opportunity for Lexington to be a pioneer in the green energy space.
“It’s a big deal and it will help Lexington with its goal of being net zero power,” Gorton said.
Gorton said the city encourages solar projects in the proper zones. She said the solar project she vetoed in September would have used agricultural land rather than a brownfield like the Haley Pike project.
“For me the veto was not about solar because I love solar and it was all about the precedent of putting industrial uses on our agricultural land,” Gorton said.
Edelen said that along with creating revenue for land that is sitting unused, the large-scale project will create jobs both during construction and once the project is completed.
“We’re working very hard with the local construction firm to make sure that these opportunities go first to the people of central Kentucky,” Edelen said.
The project is still in its beginning stages, with only one section’s solar panel racks being installed. The project will use 357 acres to provide solar power to Kentucky utilities’ power grid.
“As far as we know, this will be the largest landfill-to-solar project in the country and so Lexington continues to be a leader, continuing to demonstrate the path forward,” Edelen said.
Edelen Renewables believes the project will be completed by the final quarter of 2028.
Lexington mayoral candidate Raquel Carter was contacted for comment. Carter said her ideas on solar projects could not be expressed in a statement but was unavailable for an on-camera interview.
Gorton is doubling down on her decision to veto the Urban County Government’s solar zoning ordinance, emphasizing the agricultural land in Lexington.
“We have big time agriculture. It’s about 2.6 billion dollar economy every year. And so had we approved, and I not vetoed, the industrial solar on the ag land it would be the first time in almost 70 years that a council put industrial use on the ag land,” Gorton said.
This is Gorton’s second veto as mayor.
The council worked on a pathway for solar energy in Lexington for months and approved the amended ordinance earlier this month, capping large-scale solar projects at 1,800 acres. The council can override the mayor’s veto in a nine to 15 vote.
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