The Douglas County Commission on Wednesday will consider approving updated stormwater management and agrivoltaics plans for a massive solar farm proposed to be built north of Lawrence.
The commission approved a conditional use permit for the Kansas Sky Energy Center in April after multiple hourslong meetings filled with divided public comment. It is a 159-megawatt solar energy project planned for 1,105 acres in Grant Township. Once completed, the facility is expected to generate enough electricity to power about 30,000 homes annually.
Agrivoltaics is a system where land is used for both solar energy and agriculture. The solar farm was touted as a chance to reap the benefits of the nascent innovation.
Stormwater runoff has been a major point of discussion on the project. Opponents were concerned that the solar farm could break down natural runoff systems and risk flooding in North Lawrence.
Commissioners will hear presentations on the plans from county staff and developers of the Kansas Sky Energy Center, take public comments, discuss the proposals and consider approving them. The plans are part of the conditions outlined in the project’s conditional use permit.
Here are the updated plans:
Updated agrivolatics plan; click here to open it in a new tab
Updated stormwater plan; click here to open it in a new tab
Wednesday’s meeting will be the last before the commission expands to five members.
Two new commissioners will join the board next month after being elected in November. That has been another point of contention for project opponents, many of whom have expressed that they feel the commission doesn’t represent the interests of rural Douglas County residents.
Evergy will build, own, and operate the 159-megawatt solar farm, with design contributions from Savion LLC, a Kansas City-based division of Royal Dutch Shell.
The solar farm is planned to span 1,105 acres north of Lawrence, west of the airport, and south of Midland Junction. The project site will cover approximately 604 acres, with the solar panels occupying about 218 acres if placed edge to edge.
The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18 at the Public Works/Zoning and Codes Building, 3755 E. 25th St., and will also be available via Zoom. The Zoom link is available via the county’s website, dgcoks.gov.
Meeting recordings are uploaded to the county’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/@douglascountyks, after each meeting.
Commissioners will hear public comment in person and via Zoom. Written public comments can be emailed to publiccomment@douglascountyks.org until 24 hours before the scheduled meeting time.
The complete meeting agenda is posted at this link.
Read more background on the project at the links below.
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
Note: Article updated to reflect that the meeting agenda was posted around noon Friday
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