Maple Ridge Wind Farm now being the largest wind farm in the state of New York, operating hundreds of windmills. The benefits to the area go far beyond the energy that is created, as land - owners benefit from the leases on the farmland that most of these windmills sit on. That, and the relatively small footprint of each windmill, make for a good fit for both the agriculture and renew - able energy industries in the county. With New York state’s energy goals, solar in Lewis County has become a huge interest. Obvi - ously, you are not going to find 40 acres of land in New York City for a solar garden but looking outside of the city you are able to find wide open fields, which is something that we have in Lewis County. We are not here to tell people what to do with their land, that’s the job of planning and the county, to work with their residents to come up with laws that make sense. But as an indus - trial development and economic development agency, we need to look out for all of our indus - tries. We need to make sure that we correctly determine how we incentivize these things, as we try to balance different industries and walk
Spotlight on Business: Tells us about how Lewis County is actively helping to preserve agricul- ture and embracing sustainable and renewable energies like solar power? Brittany Davis: Lewis County is a leader in agriculture and renewable energy. We are cur - rently balancing both industries, while embrac - ing renewable energy to meet the State’s clean energy goals, but also preserving our most prime soils to preserve agriculture. Through policy development, we have found a way to encourage both through creative incentives. Cheyenne Steria: Renewable energy has been an interesting one to grapple with. Years ago, many hydroelectric facilities branched along the rivers of Lewis County, and for the most part they’re largely unseen, and unless you go looking for them, you don’t see them. And so that was kind of our first introduction into using our natural resources to export energy, because we can’t possibly use all the energy that we’re producing in Lewis Counties. About 20 years ago, Lewis County began experience with wind farming - with the
that fine line of making sure we’re not taking away landowner’s rights. For example, making sure that a dairy farmer that is struggling, has an option to participate in some of these things. We must also recognize that we don’t want our entire landscape filled with solar panels, and there’s economic devastation to happen if that happens. Nobody’s going to want to live in an area that is covered with solar panels. Jenna Kraeger: We do have a Smart Growth Solar web page that is focused on educating both developers and landowners, what to look for, or what they should be looking for, in a suc - cessful project, and what Lewis County policies for renewable energy projects, and we encour - age people to check that out: https://natural - lylewis.com/initiatives/smart-growth-solar. Spotlight on Business: A community is as much about its small and medium size business as it is about their residents. What Lewis County Economic Development projects are currently on the go that are focused on the Retention and Expansion of Key Industries.
“Lewis County is a leader in agriculture and renewable energy.”
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021
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