Land Trust 101: Renewable Energy

Many people know CPF for the 13.5-miles of public hiking trails that we maintain. Fewer know that CPF has a long history of participating in community comprehensive and land use planning. It was natural, therefore, that CPF began to engage early in thinking about how solar and wind development would affect the land conservation work that we do and the rural agricultural area in which we live. As we started to hear from more landowners that had been contacted by solar developers, it became apparent that renewable energy development would be this decade’s biggest topic in land use planning for rural Madison County with its abundance of open and relatively flat agricultural fields. Furthermore, the proximity of National Grid’s Cortland-to-Fenner transmission line makes our area an attractive option for developers seeking to implement larger utility-scale—25 megawatts (MW) and up—renewable energy projects.

CPF Tools to Advance Smart Renewable Siting

People often inquire about CPF’s position on renewable energy development. Some assume that we will be strongly opposed to solar development, given our work on agricultural land protection and the protection of open spaces and scenic viewsheds. Others assume we support renewable energy development, given that the land and habitat conservation aspect of our work is well-aligned with broader environmental and climate-change mitigation goals. While it is generally recognized that a move away from fossil fuels is of critical importance, the complexities around renewable energy development require a more nuanced perspective.

For example, some might prefer that solar development in our area focuses on smaller community-scale facilities of 30-40 acres that are well sited on a farmer’s less productive acreage. This strategy would create an additional revenue stream for that landowner, potentially providing a viable economic pathway to maintaining the farm operation, while reserving the best, most productive agricultural lands for agricultural uses. It is important to recognize, however, that while advantageous in many ways, solar development at this scale cannot proceed quickly enough to meet the state’s energy targets designed to address broader climate goals.

There are numerous topics such as decommissioning, disposal of spent solar panels, and the potential for a “flicker” effect generated by wind turbines that are part of the ongoing conversation around renewable energy development. As an organization, however, CPF has focused its energies on providing analytical tools and resources that support the evaluation of potential impacts on natural, historical, and agricultural resources in alignment with our mission.

Solar Siting Toolkit & Beyond Rooftop Solar

In 2021, CPF reached out to Colgate University’s Upstate Institute with a proposal to have a scholar create a Geographic Information System (GIS) toolkit that would determine what areas around Cazenovia are suited for solar development. The tool would also identify which areas are less well-suited to solar development because they have the highest combined conservation values, when collectively considering natural habitat, agricultural soils, proximity to historical resources, and viewsheds.

CPF and Cassie Ferrante, a Colgate Upstate Institute Fellow, used How to Solar Now (a toolkit created by the land trust Scenic Hudson for the State of New York) as a framework for building the CPF solar siting toolkit. Because the CPF Toolkit uses higher resolution geospatial data than the statewide model, it can be used to answer solar siting questions at the parcel-by-parcel scale. So, it can serve as a useful tool for municipal board members in their review of proposed projects and for individual landowners seeking to determine the best areas on their lands to site a project.

Starting in the Fall of 2021, CPF hosted a four-part Beyond Rooftop Solar webinar series on solar development. The series explored emerging issues around planning for solar, the influences driving renewable energy development in the state, solar development on agricultural lands, and aspects related to the industry and economics of commercial solar development.

Recent Project Activity

The recent activity related to renewable energy development in our area has brought this topic back into focus. Community residents are becoming more aware of commercial renewable energy generation projects proposed for our area that are currently under review at the state level.

Commercial solar and wind projects that have a generating capacity of 25MW and above are considered to be utility-scale projects and are approved and permitted through the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES). In April of 2020, ORES was established through the Accelerated Renewable Energy Growth and Community Benefit Act to more efficiently review renewable energy projects and help the state achieve its ambitious targets for clean energy as outlined in the 2019 Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act or CLCPA). This Act calls for 70% of the state’s electricity to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2030.

CPF is following these large-scale projects:

• The Hoffman Falls Wind Project is a proposed 100MW project involving the installation of 24 windmills with a maximum height of approximately 660 feet in the Towns of Fenner, Nelson, Smithfield, and Eaton.

• Cypress Creek Renewables Development, LLC, has secured leases on approximately 1300 acres of land in the Town of Fenner for the installation of a solar array capable of generating 140MW of electricity. The developers for the project, known as the Oxbow Road Solar Project, filed a notice of intent to submit an application with ORES in March of this year.

More information about these proposed projects can be found at www.ores.ny.gov.

In addition, two new utility-scale projects, one solar and one wind, are being considered in the Town of Cazenovia and the Town of Tully.

CPF is also following the Remington Solar project on Route 20 East, a smaller 5MW project that is currently under review by the Town of Cazenovia Planning Board.

CPF will continue updating and expanding our GIS mapping and modeling work to identify and characterize those areas of highest conservation value. This is important both for our ongoing land conservation work as well as renewables siting. To support that effort, CPF recently applied for funding through ORES to complete expanded mapping and modeling work related to the review of the Hoffman Falls Wind Project. This work will also inform the future evaluation of the Oxbow Hill Solar Project. Ultimately, the permitting and siting decisions for these utility-scale projects will be made at the state level. However, CPF will use the results of this mapping and modeling work to collaborate with municipalities in advocating for the application of smart-siting principles for these and future proposed projects in alignment with our mission of protecting natural, agricultural, and scenic resources.