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CANISTOTA – Construction work is proceeding at a rapid pace at the state’s newest solar farm being built on 585 acres of former farmland south of this small eastern South Dakota town.
The story of how the Grant Solar LLC project being developed by Geronimo Power came to fruition provides a good representation of South Dakota’s ongoing love-hate relationship to development of solar energy in the state.
On the one hand, the $165 million, 99-megawatt solar project just north of state Highway 42 was supported by the Board of Economic Development within the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, which provided the project with $2.8 million in tax relief through the state Reinvestment Payment Program.
The solar farm that will be located on both sides of 446th Avenue is expected to generate $31 million in direct economic impact, $15 million in new tax revenues, $495,000 in local charitable giving and 150 construction jobs and three full-time permanent local positions over its first 20 years of operation, according to a Geronimo spokeswoman.
The project also proves the rising interest of power companies to tap into South Dakota’s abundant resources of both sun and treeless open spaces.
Conversely, the project was opposed by some neighbors who feared negative impacts on the land, nearby property values and their rural lifestyle. It took two applications to the McCook County Commission for the project to finally obtain local approval.
“Our approach has been to listen, be transparent and make reasonable adjustments where we can,” Geronimo spokeswoman Emily Morissette wrote to News Watch in an email. “Geronimo Power is committed to being a good neighbor in McCook County and to developing a project that provides long-term local benefits while respecting the community where it is located.”
Opposition arises to new solar projects
Development of any new solar energy projects in South Dakota will come in spite of opposition from President Donald Trump, who slowed or stopped many wind and solar energy projects and cut funding for sustainable energy programs across the country during his second term.
In 2023, former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem decided against applying for part of a $7 billion program enacted by the Biden administration called “Solar for All” that provided grants to states to get proposed solar projects up and running. A Noem spokesperson at the time said the grants had too many strings attached and were part of wasteful spending by Biden.
Meanwhile, some local governments are putting up roadblocks to solar projects.
In late June, the Pennington County Commission voted 3-2 to give final approval to zoning changes that ban new utility-scale wind and solar projects on agricultural land within the county. Pennington County encompasses nearly 2,800 square miles, an area larger than the state of Delaware that includes vast stretches of open prairies.
The measure limits large solar and wind projects to areas zoned industrial and would also prohibit siting of battery storage units that sometimes accompany sustainable energy projects.
County Commissioner Jerry Derr, who championed the siting restrictions, wrote on Facebook that, “I took the lead on this change because eastern Pennington County’s ag land is worth protecting.”
He added: “This land supports our heritage, our economy, our open space, and our rural way of life. Large-scale industrial energy projects should be located in industrial areas, not in agricultural districts.”
New solar projects but still lagging rest of U.S.
South Dakota remains near the bottom of all states in terms of solar power production, ranking 48th with 270 megawatts of generation.
But some new projects have come online or are under construction, including the 128-megawatt Wild Springs solar farm operating south of New Underwood and a 5-megawatt solar field now under construction in Brookings County.
The website for Philadelphia-based energy company Doral LLC lists a project called Six Mile Solar, a 1,000-megawatt project the company intends to build in Brookings County. No application from Doral has been submitted to the state, however.
Some proposed solar projects do not survive regulatory scrutiny or neighbor opposition.
A $120 million solar farm proposed for 1,100 acres east of Sturgis in 2023 stalled due to a county property line dispute, and no progress had been made since then.
The request for a conditional use permit for the Canistota project was withdrawn by the developer after opposition from neighbors arose in 2023. But the company worked with neighbors and the county and eventually gained approval for the project after agreeing to multiple stipulations, including providing setback waivers for properties within a half mile, requiring natural plant screening and conducting a traffic study.
South Dakota News Watch is an independent nonprofit. Read, subscribe for free and donate at sdnewswatch.org. Contact content director Bart Pfankuch: 605-937-9398 or bart.pfankuch@sdnewswatch.org.
