Tuesday, Bermuda District residents in Chesterfield got an overview of a proposed solar data project on a site that has a history of controversy.
The ghost of an earlier project known as the Megasite was on the minds of many residents, including Mike Conner.
“The previous site required a lot of infrastructure that doesn’t exist.”
The county withdrew plans last year for a “Megasite” after residents opposed any manufacturing firms to build on the 1600 acre site. Now, a company called Torch Clean Energy wants to buy the land to build a solar farm that will connect to a data center.
“We’ve seen, what we call F.A.N.G. Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Google, have mandated that 100% of their consumptive use be supplied by renewable energy.”
That’s Jonathan Kilberg, president of Torch Clean Energy. He says the site won’t be a “trojan horse” for any other projects. Kilberg adds that Torch and the data center could give the county up to $18 million in tax revenue and provide up to 100 jobs.
The Planning Commission is expected to hold a public hearing about the project on July 16.
