On Aug. 16, the Texas Attorney General's Office issued a letter saying that counties do not have the ability to ban solar farms. The letter came in response to a request on the subject from the Franklin County Attorney.
In her letter, Angela Colmenero, Interim Texas Attorney General, issued an opinion that there is no "state law granting a commissioners court authority to adopt a moratorium that fully encompasses the 'siting, construction, installation, operation, permitting, and licensing' of a solar facility."
Franklin County Attorney Landon Ramsay sent the request for an opinion to the attorney general's office because Franklin County Commissioners had adopted last November, then later rescinded over concerns of its legality, a moratorium on constructing or operating a commercial solar facility in the county.
The decision to rescind upset a number of country residents who expressed their concerns at a commissioners court meeting on February 27, according to KRTE 9. The feedback from residents spurred the county commissioners to seek a second opinion from the Texas attorney general's office.
Concerns about new solar farms are not confined to Franklin County. With installed solar generation almost tripling since 2021, many residents in rural Texas counties have had to deal with solar facilities locating in close proximity, according to an ERCOT fact sheet.
One of those residents, David Dunagan, was not surprised by the attorney general's decision. "That's been the case for rural counties in Texas for years. Nothing new," Dunagin, wrote on the "Save Van Zandt County" Facebook Group page. "Rural counties don't have the regulatory power that large counties do. Rural county 'X' can't regulate the building of a solar facility because many of their powers are actually under the purview of the Texas Legislature."
An Erath County resident who has also fought against the solar farms in her county, Joanna Friebele, suggested that there are still things that can be done to slow or stop solar farms. "Well... we knew that - but [the commissioners] can collect full taxes and there are a few things they can control," Friebele wrote on the "Erath County - Stop Solar Farms Here" Facebook Group page.
Despite the rapid growth of solar and wind generation over the last few years, the Texas electric is facing significant problems with reliability this summer. This month, Texans were asked to conserve energy to avert energy shortages four times over a nine day period, ABC 13 reported.
The latest appeal from ERCOT, which manages most of the Texas grid, came on August 25. "Operating reserves are expected to be low for several hours this afternoon into the evening due to low wind-power generation and high demand," ERCOT in an Aug. 25 social media post on X, formerly Twitter.