Officials discuss wind and solar energy farms in Shawnee County
TOPEKA (KSNT) -- Shawnee County officials debated the future of wind and solar energy farms on Monday. A hand-picked group will decide whether projects can move forward in the county, and there were plenty of mixed opinions tonight from the community. Some for wind and solar and others against it.
This would be in areas that are currently zoned as "industrial". For solar energy, planning staff is pushing for a one-year moratorium. They believe this would give them some time to do "proper research" before making a decision.
As for wind energy farms, the planning staff says that these projects aren't the main focus for the county right now. They're pushing for a ban of commercial wind energy conversion systems and projects. Although, people within the community have different takes.
"The good news is that science and technology has also brought us solar energy, and wind, and we can use those two forms of alternative energy to generate electricity to power our homes, and our businesses, our factories, our farms, etc," Topeka resident Mark Galbraith said.
"On a large scale, the wind farms and the solar panel farms, they are just not economically feasible and functional," Topeka resident Mark Richards said.
Right now, it's up to a planning commission to sign off on any recommendations.