Shawnee County “Open for Business” in 3-0 Vote on Utility Solar & Batteries

Advocates celebrate public engagement and clean energy benefits of jobs, health, and affordability.

TOPEKA, Kansas — Today, the Shawnee County Commission voted 3-0 to approve an ordinance for utility-scale solar that moves beyond their initial moratorium toward a comprehensive, permitting framework, expanding the opportunity for cleaner, cheaper energy sources to be built quickly at a time when energy affordability is top-of-mind for many households.

“Today’s solar ordinance not only benefits the community and local ecosystems through important regulations and protections, but it also offers business certainty and investment potential for energy that reduces electricity costs, creates jobs, and provide tax benefits to county residents without burdening them with pollution and health problems” said Zack Pistora, Kansas Chapter Director of Sierra Club, who testified in front of County Commissioners.

After an initial draft of the ordinance by the Shawnee County Planning Commission, local advocates, including local Sierra Club members, League of Women Voters, Climate + Energy Project, AFL-CIO, IBEW, and more, pushed for amendments to expand the size limit on solar installations from 240 to 1000 acres and removed an included prohibition on battery energy storage in favor of updated fire codes. Ultimately, the Board of County Commissioners amended the regulations as they felt a project size of 640 acres was a good place to start.

Throughout the process Sierra Club and partners fostered engagement between residents and the Shawnee County Planning Commission, who was tasked with writing the proposed ordinance. Local residents, many of whom engaged in the process through testimony and messages to commissioners, credit that public engagement for leading to a stronger final ordinance.

“Shawnee County demonstrated how local governments can create smart regulations to balance both the community’s wide interests and economic ambitions.  The county intently studied comparable regulations in neighboring areas, invited public participation throughout the process, and achieved broad community buy-in, which is paramount to any industry’s success.  Today’s ordinance will go far to inviting the benefits of solar into the county while ensuring its people and place are respected,” said Pistora.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.