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Updated: October 14, 2026 @ 3:35 pm
Stacy Neuman, a local real estate agent and former Barron County supervisor, speaks during a community meeting organized by Save Barron County Farms Inc. on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Whitmore Family Farm. Neuman addressed concerns regarding the proposed 1,039-acre Sandhill Solar Project, highlighting disparities in zoning enforcement and cautioning about potential reductions in nearby homestead property values based on regional precedents. See the story at the bottom of this page. Photo by Kenton Troutman
Stacy Neuman, a local real estate agent and former Barron County supervisor, speaks during a community meeting organized by Save Barron County Farms Inc. on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Whitmore Family Farm. Neuman addressed concerns regarding the proposed 1,039-acre Sandhill Solar Project, highlighting disparities in zoning enforcement and cautioning about potential reductions in nearby homestead property values based on regional precedents. See the story at the bottom of this page. Photo by Kenton Troutman
Facing a state regulatory process that strips local municipalities of direct voting power, Town of Dallas residents and Barron County landowners gathered Saturday morning at the Whitmore Family Farm to establish a formal legal defense ahead of the proposed Sandhill Solar Project’s official state filing.
Organized by Save Barron County Farms Inc., the Oct. 10 community meeting brought together over 100 neighbors, local officials, and legal experts to map out strategy before developer MN8 Energy formally files its application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC).
While a formal project application has not yet been submitted to state regulators, newly released pre-application engineering plans submitted by the New York-based developer to the PSC in September reveal the project scope has expanded to 1,039 acres—up from early 900-acre estimates—and includes a 4-acre substation alongside industrial battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities.
“For neighbors who live here, these are substantial details,” said Greg Whitmore, president of Save Barron County Farms Inc. “We want people to understand the difference between simply saying they oppose or support something and participating effectively in the process. If we are going to comment, we want our comments to be informed, specific, and useful.”
Securing a Seat at the
Table in Madison
Principal speaker Erik Olsen, a Madison-based attorney with Eminent Domain Services LLC, emphasized that while individual public comments voice local opinion, formal intervention is required to influence PSC rulings.
“The Public Service Commission process functions much like a court,” Olsen explained to attendees. “Every argument we make—whether regarding local hardship, land values, or grid impacts—must be backed by sworn expert testimony submitted under oath.”
By incorporating Save Barron County Farms Inc. as a non-stock non-profit corporation, organizers have established the legal entity required to file for official “intervener status”. Intervener standing grants the group the right to cross-examine utility experts, submit formal evidence, and place sworn testimony from local property owners directly into the official state record.
Olsen noted that under state guidelines, the PSC is required to evaluate whether a proposed project serves the public interest after considering the specific economic and personal hardships placed on neighboring families.
“We have to put as much onto the scales as possible,” Olsen said. “When we present documented, sworn testimony of individual hardship through our organization, we build a record that the state cannot simply ignore.”
The “Merchant Power”
Loophole and Rate Impact
A central concern raised during the meeting is Sandhill Solar’s classification as a “merchant power plant”. Unlike regulated public utilities built to serve specific local service territories, merchant facilities generate electricity strictly for commercial profit to sell on the open wholesale market.
Olsen cautioned that electricity generated in Barron County may be exported out of state or sold to regional data centers, while local ratepayers absorb the broader grid integration costs.
Under current state mandates, regulated utilities are required to purchase specified percentages of renewable energy. Panelists noted that forcing traditional utilities to purchase power from independent merchant developers at inflated rates ultimately drives up consumer electric bills.
Speakers cited state energy data showing Wisconsin’s residential electricity rates have climbed over the past two decades from among the lowest in the Midwest to the second-highest across 12 central states. Passing massive construction costs for intermittent generation onto ratepayers while customers continue paying off debt on existing infrastructure forces power customers to fund parallel energy systems at once.
The Property Tax Exemption:
School Districts Left Out
Beyond zoning and land use, a central financial concern raised during community discussions with State Senator Romaine Quinn and Congressman Tom Tiffany back in July, centered on Wisconsin’s utility tax framework and its direct impact on local school funding.
Under Wisconsin state law (Wis. Stat. § 76.28), utility-scale solar installations are completely exempt from standard local property taxes based on assessed physical real estate value. According to official Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) guidelines and public utility aid formulas:
Host Counties receive an annual state Utility Shared Revenue payment of $2,333 per megawatt of capacity.
Host Townships receive $1,667 per megawatt.
School Districts receive zero allocation under Wisconsin’s utility aid statute.
To supplement local revenues or address municipal impacts, developers frequently negotiate voluntary Joint Development Agreements (JDAs) directly with host county or township boards. However, public records show these agreements are strictly municipal contracts. Because local school boards possess no statutory jurisdiction over municipal road access or local zoning agreements, school districts are neither parties to county JDAs nor recipients of developer JDA funds.
For the Barron Area School District, taking over 1,000 acres of commercial agricultural land off standard property tax rolls removes that property value from the district’s taxable base without providing replacing revenue from state utility aid or developer JDAs.
The Multi-Project
Multiplier Effect
The financial effect on local schools becomes more pronounced when evaluated across Barron County’s broader energy footprint. The Sandhill proposal joins other major developments across the region, including the proposed Maple Grove Solar Project spanning roughly 1,500 acres across the Towns of Barron and Maple Grove.
When thousands of agricultural acres transition into utility-exempt status under Wis. Stat. § 76.28, the cumulative erosion of the school district’s taxable real estate base grows exponentially.
Under Wisconsin’s school district revenue limit caps, public school operating budgets are tied to overall district property valuation. When substantial agricultural land value is removed from local tax rolls, state formula rules require the remaining tax levy to be re-apportioned across non-participating property owners—shifting a higher relative school tax burden onto homeowners, main-street businesses, and active agricultural producers across Barron County.
State legislators have pointed to this statutory framework as a primary driver of rural tax shifts, noting that while out-of-state merchant developers capture federal tax credits and municipal bodies receive shared revenue, local public school districts and non-participating property owners are left to absorb the long-term tax base impact.
Pressure Mounts on County
and Town Boards
While state preemption limits direct zoning authority, local units of government retain critical legal avenues to push back.
Stacey Neuman, a local real estate agent and former county supervisor, highlighted the stark contrast between municipal zoning enforcement for residents versus utility developers.
“If a local family wants to split a parcel or build a garage, they face strict zoning set-backs and rules,” Neuman noted. She also pointed to historical precedent in Barron County, where industrial frac sand mining operations reduced nearby homestead property values by up to 50%, cautioning that similar unmitigated industrial development threatens the local tax base.
Community leaders urged local town boards and the Barron County Board of Supervisors to submit formal “minor interventions” with the PSC opposing the project.
Residents were specifically advised to monitor the Barron County Executive Committee, which sets the agenda for the full county board. County officials have held closed-session discussions regarding a proposed Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with the developer.
Tom Wilcox, co-founder of the grassroots organization Farmland First, warned attendees that developers routinely present signed JDAs to state regulators as proof of local community support. Wilcox, who has helped dozens of Wisconsin townships navigate industrial wind and solar proposals, stressed the urgency of direct citizen attendance at county proceedings.
“If the county board isn’t hearing from you, they are hearing from the developer,” Wilcox told attendees, urging neighbors to contact their county supervisors and attend upcoming board meetings in person.
Pre-Filing Action Steps
for Residents
Save Barron County Farms Inc. is mobilizing volunteer committees ahead of MN8 Energy’s anticipated formal state application, which could come before the end of 2026.
Organizers are directing community action through several immediate channels:
• Legislative Engagement: Contacting state legislative candidates ahead of November to secure commitments on restoring local siting authority (§ 66.0401) and reforming PSC preemption rules.
• Public Comment & Testimony Preparation: Assisting impacted property owners in drafting detailed hardship statements to be submitted under oath once the PSC docket opens.
• Media & Regional Outreach: Coordinating letters to the editor and op-eds across regional newspapers to raise statewide awareness of rural land conversion.
• Grassroots Fundraising: Establishing dedicated defense funds at Security Bank in New Auburn, alongside Venmo and GoFundMe channels, to cover legal and expert witness fees required for the PSC intervention.
“We are doing this to win,” Olsen told the crowd. “Across Wisconsin, communities are waking up and standing together. We are not alone, and we have to do our part to protect our farms and our way of life.”
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