Bannock County Commissioners vote to ban large-scale solar and wind projects

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - The Bannock County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on Tuesday to discuss a solar farm ordinance in the county.

After hearing from the community through multiple public forums, the Board changed directions and created an ordinance banning large-scale solar and wind projects in Bannock County. You can read the proposed ordinance here.

Both sides of the argument were presented during the hearing, which was considered in the final conclusion.

"We came to the conclusion in a 2 to 1 vote that we would not allow industrial, solar or wind in Bannock County at this time," Commissioner Ernie Moser said.

Many speakers that were against the ban were representatives from power companies across the country, including Chicago, Denver and Phoenix.

Downey residents also voiced their concerns on a ban, including Lytton Bastian.

"I'm not in favor of the ban," Bastian said. "I don't believe that it is encouraging for landowners and that it endorses or encourages property rights. I think that it infringes upon that. What people can do with their land and what they see fit."

Bastian believes bringing solar and wind energy to Downey will be beneficial to future generations.

"The biggest one that holds dear to my heart is the school district," Bastian said. "The school district stands to miss out on over a half million dollars from this. And that is a large sum of money that could go towards our kids education. I have six kids. I want them to grow up in my school district. This is where I graduated from. And to me, this feels like that they're never going to receive those funds."

Many speakers also voiced their support for the ban, including Bannock County resident Dianna Troyer.

"I was grateful that two commissioners supported the ban," Troyer said. "Utility scale wind and solar are amazingly unreliable and inefficient based on simple nonpartisan laws of physics. And yet we as taxpayers are expected to subsidize this."

Troyer said she believes that their tax money would be better invested in natural gas, clean coal and nuclear energy.

"Downey farmers are very innovative," Troyer said. "They've been around for centuries and they've been able to exist just fine without subsidies from solar and wind."

Moser says a decision like this can be challenging when it's concerning someone's property.

"In every ordinance, every law, whether it's state, county, city, it either protects somebody's property rights or take somebody's property rights away," Moser said. "So, that's a big decision, a tough decision."

While the ban is now official, Moser says their decision can be adjusted as time and more information comes forward.

"The county and the commissioners are always looking for avenues, but it's got to be the right avenue," Moser said. "Just because it's going to bring money into the county doesn't mean that it's the right thing."Tuesday