As a fellow farmer, I read about the proposed Hadley “dual use” solar array with concern [“Dual-use solar array eyed for farm,” Gazette, July 18]. The farmer who is proposing it has a good reputation, and I respect him. But I wonder if he and the good people of Hadley have considered the implications for loss of control of farmland, if other farmers follow suit. What if 1,000 acres of Hadley farmland were under solar canopies? At a cost estimate of $1 million per acre to build, solar developers typically flip ownership of arrays after construction to large capital investors. Ownership can then flip multiple times to an alphabet soup of holding companies. A thousand acres of solar means $1 billion dollars invested, generating income guaranteed by state regulation and mandated ratepayer subsidies. Think of the political power that implies for the investors. The regulations require that farming use under the canopies continues for 20 years, but what is 20 years in the 400-year history of Hadley farming? Is this the future we want for Hadley’s world-class farmland?
Fred Beddall
Holyoke