CLEARFIELD COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Phase one of a large solar farm in Clearfield County that will power 75,000 households annually in New York will soon begin.
Although the farm won’t power any houses in Clearfield County, the project will still benefit the area.
Mineral Basin Solar will build the farm in Girard and Goshen Townships. Over 2,000 acres will be filled with solar panels on reclaimed mine land, making it the largest solar farm in Pennsylvania.
“We’re not cutting down big forests and we’re not taking what’s currently arable farmland to do this. We’re taking land that’s really not doing much else right now,” Clearfield County Commissioner Dave Glass said.
Options available for Pennsylvanians who need help with utility bills According to the solar farm company, the site will provide millions of dollars in tax revenue for the two municipalities while also making a deal with the townships to donate $200,000 for community funds.
“Direct benefit to the county is not in dollars, but the overall big picture to the local municipalities and of course to the school district, both of which stand to get a nice chunk of change here as this project progresses,” Clearfield County Commissioner Tim Winters said.
During the construction, the project will have 750 full-time construction jobs.
“Anytime you can have that kind of an influx of people into the local economy, there are local companies looking at this and their local contractors are looking at getting involved. It’s definitely a benefit to the overall picture here in Clearfield County,” Winters added.
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This project could be the start of even more projects in the future.
“As you’re taking land that has no real other good use of and has had no other good use since the mines were, you know, closed and then reclaimed. So the land is just sitting there,” Glass said. “It’s a private deal with the landowners. They made this deal. Now you’re going to be able to create, you know, green energy with it. I think that’s a win-win for everyone, especially given its fairly remote location and the thousands of acres available. I think this is a really good pilot for a lot of other programs.”
More information about the project can be found on the Mineral Basin Solar website .
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