About the Solar Project

Illinois-based Hecate Energy wants to build a 255-acre, 60-megawatt solar facility near New York State Route 23, Route 7 and Route 11A in Craryville, a hamlet of Copake, NY. This industrial-sized facility will also impact the towns of Hillsdale and Taghkanic, as well as the Taconic Hills Central School District and Copake Lake areas.

We Support Solar

While Sensible Solar supports combating climate change and expanding renewable energy resources in New York, we believe the solar project as currently proposed will adversely impact Copake’s natural resources, farmland, wildlife and habitats, rural viewsheds, property values, and tourism- and agriculture-dependent economy

Project Overview: The Facts

In 2020, Hecate Energy informed the Town of Copake that the Illinois-based company was advancing a 400 to 500-acre solar facility – known as “Shepherd’s Run Solar Farm” – in Copake and Craryville, NY, and would use New York State’s Article 10 to bypass Copake’s zoning law that limits the size of solar installations to 10 acres. The Article 10 process requires a siting board comprised of political appointees and community representatives to decide each project’s fate, as well as requires developers to study environmental and community impacts.

However, in May 2021 Hecate Energy announced it would seek approval of its “Shepherd’s Run” solar project through New York State’s recently enacted Climate Leadership and Community Benefit Act (also referred to as 94-C) – an accelerate process for approving large-scale solar and wind facilities that exempts such projects from environmental review and enables developers to pay reduced county, town and school taxes.

Hecate Energy’s track record tells us that should the Shepherd’s Run solar project be approved by the Office of Renewable Energy Siting, the developer will most likely sell the project to an unknown third-party. Furthermore, it was recently announced that Repsol, an energy company based in Spain, purchased a 40 percent stake in Hecate Energy with an option to buy the remaining 60 percent in three years. All evidence that Hecate Energy does not care about Copake, Columbia County, and the Hudson Valley region.

Copake’s Town Board unanimously passed a resolution in October 2020 acknowledging the urgency of climate change and supporting renewable energy, but opposing the construction of Shepherd’s Run for, among other reasons, its scale and the fact that the proposed project is in violation of the Town’s zoning law. In May 2021, the Columbia County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution also opposing Hecate Energy’s proposed solar facility. Additionally, more than 3,900 residents of Copake and Columbia County have signed a petition opposing “Shepherd’s Run” as currently proposed.

Despite calls from the Town of Copake, Sensible Solar for Rural New York and others, Hecate Energy refuses to sit down with the Town to negotiate and advance a solar project that complies with Copake’s zoning laws and respects the community’s natural resources, farmland, wildlife and habitats, rural viewsheds, property values, and tourism- and agriculture-dependent economy.

On June 10th, 2021, the Town of Copake announced it was considering filing a lawsuit potentially accusing New York State's Office of Renewable Energy Siting of using regulations that violate state law related to the proposed Shepherd’s Run solar project.
The town board unanimously passed a resolution which would allow the town to engage in litigation against the Siting Office.
Copake would join several other petitioners in challenging the regulations from the Siting Office, said attorney Benjamin E. Wisniewski, who has been retained by the town in regard to the solar project.
“In light of Hecate’s intention to seek a permit from the Office of Renewable Energy Siting, the town board should be aware that the ORES process is currently using regulations that I believe are flawed, and that could violate numerous previsions of state law,” Wisniewski said.

Wisniewski advised the town board to authorize the law firm to investigate and commence litigation against the Siting Office “to ensure ORES takes a hard look at renewable energy projects as required by SEQR and to protect the town against the flawed ORES approval process.”

On October 7, the Court issued a final decision and order dismissing the lawsuit brought against the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) by Copake and 12 other plaintiffs over the 94-C siting process for industrial wind and solar facilities. Read the full decision here:
http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2021/20211007_docket-905502-21_decision.pdf

Since the Court's decision was made without a hearing or oral arguments, there was no final opportunity for argument, and no party filed a response to the plaintiff's memorandum of law prepared by Zoghlin (plaintiffs' attorney). The Town of Copake plans to appeal the Court's decision.

Why Craryville/Copake, NY?

The Craryville/Copake, NY site was chosen for reasons that benefit Hecate, not the residents and annual visitors to this part of the Columbia County countryside throughout the year.

Craryville and Copake have an electrical transfer station that has available capacity for solar energy to be processed and distributed so Hecate will not have to build or expand transfer stations that exist in remote, non-residential, rural locations. Also, the 900-acre parcel of land that Hecate needs to purchase is owned by very few landowners, making their acquisition simple and quick.

Hecate’s track record has shown that they will prioritize their own interests over all else. In early 2018 local residents of Greene County, NY became aware that nine utility-scale solar plants had been proposed for the town, including two facilities being sited under Article 10 of the NY Public Service Law. Proposed for an area of over 800 acres of active farmland, Hecate’s 50-MW facility would comprise 185,000 panels covering 400 acres of the site, along with inverters, substations, fencing, security lighting, access roads, and collection/transmission lines. Hecate’s Greene County Solar Facility would have a nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts of energy that wouldn’t even be sold locally.
According to current project maps, panels would be placed directly on wetlands as well as on prime farmland and farmland of statewide importance. The rest of the site includes more wetlands, woods, and habitat for endangered and threatened species. Up to 100 acres of the site might be kept in agricultural production.
All of this land is surrounded by residential and rural residential neighborhoods, with little or no buffering between this enormous facility and nearby residences or roadways. Only the most minimal setbacks are proposed. Some landowners would have arrays located on two or more sides of their properties. The site’s rolling topography makes it particularly difficult to mitigate viewsheds. Hecate acknowledges that not all views can be remediated with installed landscaping.

Alternative Sites

Sensibly Solar of Rural NY supports the building of renewable energy solar fields in areas and at scales where they do not violate Article 10: A utility-scale solar energy system may occupy up to 20 percent of the area of the parcel on which it is located; provided, however, that the area of land used for any such system shall not exceed 10 acres.

Alternative sites for solar fields in New York state include:
• Vast acreage of non-populated areas in New York
• Decommissioned shopping malls
• Abandoned factories and plants

Sensible Solar for Rural New York
P.O. Box 305
Craryville, NY 12521
General inquiries:
info@sensiblesolarny.org
Media inquiries:
media@sensiblesolarny.org