Echo Press | Nathan Dull, March 28
To the editor:
I am writing to you today to express the Minnesota Land and Liberty Coalition’s support of the proposed Fern-Roth Solar Park located just south of Alexandria. This project will help rectify past actions by the government that adversely affected the participating landowners.
The property owners for this project had the government seize over 30 acres of their land for the purpose of constructing a substation in order to strengthen the community’s electrical grid. Now, after many years, the landowners have the opportunity to voluntarily utilize their land to generate electricity for the substation.
The unique thing about renewable energy projects is that they pay energy production tax based on how much energy is generated throughout the year. Unlike almost all other taxes, these dollars stay exclusively in Douglas County. The Fern-Roth project will produce over 85,000 megawatt hours of electricity per year resulting in at least $102,000 to Douglas County each year for the next 25 years.
This production tax provides 80% to the county government and the remaining 20% is given to the city or township where the project is located. With this revenue, the county can invest in public infrastructure like roads and bridges, enhance emergency services, put into a rainy day fund, or even offer property tax relief. That decision is ultimately up to the Board of Commissioners and local units of government, and by extension the residents of Douglas County. The best part? This revenue is paid by the operator of the project — not by hardworking taxpayers.
In addition to providing affordable renewable energy, the Fern-Roth project will financially support Douglas County for years to come. On behalf of the Land and Liberty Coalition, I hope Douglas County protects the property rights of its residents and lets them leverage this unique opportunity.
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