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To Block Solar Energy Projects, One Community Lumped Them in With Junkyards and Adult Bookstores

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To Block Solar Energy Projects, One Community Lumped Them in With Junkyards and Adult Bookstores

In Montgomery County, Indiana, utility-scale solar projects appear on an official list of undesirable land uses that also includes “adult-oriented businesses.”

So it wasn’t surprising that the county Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected a 200-megawatt solar project on Sept. 28.

But it still stings for renewable energy advocates. It shows a huge challenge lurking right behind the debate over a U.S. Senate energy permitting bill. Even if the federal government eases the permitting process, much of the country is off-limits for wind and solar development because local residents and their elected officials oppose it.

One person who repeatedly defended the Indiana project at public meetings was John Smillie, a solar power supporter who lives in Crawfordsville, the county seat. He works as a finance manager for an industrial lighting company and does charitable work, written about by Canary Media, to help nonprofits install solar.

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