I would like to take this opportunity to praise our parish council in the recent decision to deny an ITEP application by West Bogalusa PVI LLC. They acted with courage and conviction in deciding what is best for our parish and it’s citizens.
The decisions to deny ITEP to Sunlight Solar and West Bogalusa were not easy decisions to make. There were many facts to be made aware, to analyze the information given and then weighing all that, come to a conclusion in both cases.
The Sunlight Solar and the West Bogalusa people presented an impressive array of information to support their applications. I commend them for their preparations.
In my view, the solar industry comes to our parish because of the land available to set up their facilities to produce their product and the access to the much needed transmission lines to deliver their product. These two things are vital to them profiting from their endeavors. These two vital necessities are something that they cannot create. It is noteworthy to state, that at this time, none of that electricity produced was going to be delivered here for use by Washington parish citizens. The Iris Solar facility has a contract with Entergy of New Orleans for their power. WST has already stated that it wasn’t buying power from any local producers.
They bring no jobs and that’s the real intent of ITEP. The Industrial Tax Exemption Program was set up to benefit both parish and industry interests. Of course, they do pay “some” property taxes, but, is it enough to balance what they take? A number of Washington parish citizens didn’t think so.
The other side of this situation is that, the solar industry didn’t seem interested in the culture and people of the communities they moved into. There was no advance information given out to the people of the communities where they located themselves. And, yes there is no legal requirement to do so, but if your going to be a good neighbor, then you sometimes do what is not legally required as a gesture of good will.
No real interest by them of how the people who live in these communities would react to hundreds of acres of panels covering what was rolling green pastureland. No concerns to the disruption of the land itself and what the aftermath would be after a typical Louisiana rainstorm or hurricane. They have since learned, but it took the washing out of Kat Kaw road and the movement of silt into a private pond to make them aware.
I don’t think this will discourage all solar industry from ever coming into Washington parish. I would like them to pay their fair share of the taxes that all of us bear, and I would like them to practice being a good neighbor to the communities they want to locate in.
I would also like to say thanks to the wonderful group of people that I have worked with over the course of almost 2 years. They have researched, crunched numbers, investigated news items and research papers from all over to educate ourselves to understand what was happening to our parish. Much appreciation to Wilson Lagraize, Tiffany Hawkins, Jennifer Stanford Brown, John Brown, Lynette Sharp, Darwin Sharp, Nick Smith, and Vonda Waskom for providing accounting knowledge, legal perspectives, environmental viewpoints, public support in council meetings and not in the least, spaces to meet, discuss and plan. Without them and the hard work they did, I doubt that the solar ordinance would have been as comprehensive as it is and that scrutiny of ITEP applications would not have occurred. Thanks team!
Ben M Sarro
Franklinton, LA
