A public meeting is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the town of Tyre, where residents will voice their opposition to a proposed 125 megawatt solar farm development. The controversial project—covering approximately 625 acres of what is described as prime farmland—has sparked significant local dissent.
The project, initiated by Delaware River Solar, LLC, initially covered about 1,600 acres but has been scaled down. Despite this reduction, the proposal continues to face strong resistance.
Greg Guy, a local resident and active voice in opposition, says residents have been left out of the process. “So far, residents have had absolutely no voice in the process,” Guy said. He said a brief preliminary presentation to the Tyre Town Board on April 25, 2023 was sparsely attended by residents.
Delaware River Solar indicated at the time that community forums would be setup to update residents and receive questions or feedback. Residents were pitched on a series of community forums—including one over the summer, as well as another in October—neither of which came to fruition.
Guy said to date the Town of Tyre has heard ‘absolutely nothing’ from the company. He attributes the lack of communication to the state’s establishment of Section 94-C of NY Executive Law, which made the Office of Renewable Energy Siting the sole governmental entity responsible for approving large-scale solar facilities in New York.
The state considers any project over 25 megawatts as ‘large’. The change in state siting process dates back to the Cuomo Administration—when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo created the process after finding much resistance in rural parts of the state to solar array developments.
From the state’s perspective—the goal was simple: Fast-track green energy projects so that it could hit lofty goals established over the last 8 years.
From local residents perspective—the outcome was also simple: They have been stripped of their voice in the matter thanks…
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