The end result left some feeling disappointed, others were frustrated, and a few even left happy that they got their way. Most notably, the solar project representatives and the local property owner went home empty handed. The Town Board rejected the Williams Street solar project proposed by Solar Liberty Energy Systems, Inc., by a vote of 3-1. Town Board member Shari Miller voted in favor of the project, while Board member Bob Price was absent. Members Phil Leone and Jean Crane voted against the project, followed by Town of Dunkirk Supervisor Priscilla Penfold’s deciding vote that sealed the project’s fate. “I think it needs to be said that the job isn’t always hard, but a lot of times, it’s hard,” Penfold said. “This was hard.” The project’s plans called for a 3.75 megawatt solar energy system of approximately 14,580 ground mounted solar panels across three parcels of land, located at 3751 Williams Street East in the Town of Dunkirk...The land is located in a Residential Zoning District....Plans for the project have been in motion since 2019 when Solar Liberty first started negotiations with Dach for the land to host the project. The Zoning Board granted a variance request for the project to proceed, despite the Residential Zoning restriction the Town had set. Still, the Town Board had the final say, and its decision was to favor the Town Law, rather than the variance.

Surry County supervisors voted Feb. 13 to reject the county's share of the Sycamore Cross solar farm, which was to span more than 2,000 acres.

The Environmental Authority has rejected the proposed construction and operation of a photovoltaic park in the Troulloi community of Larnaca district. The project, which would have had a power generation capacity of 11.67MW and energy storage capability of 6MW/12MWh, was denied following a unanimous recommendation from members of the Ad-hoc Committee for Special Ecological Assessment. Analysis revealed that the construction and operation of the solar park “would likely have significant, negative and irreversible” impacts on the Special Protection Area, primarily due to disturbance to specific protected species that define the conservation status of the area.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has suspended a plan to let a private firm convert 420 acres of trees near Gaylord to a solar farm after the project made national news. Criticism of the project unfolded in early January as lawmakers and environmental groups called for more transparency and oversight of DNR operations. RWE Clean Energy had planned to install a solar facility, but it withdrew its plan to use state land after facing opposition from environmental groups, according to Michigan Public Radio...The DNR violated its own scientific study, according to Roth, when it began to cut down the forest on the state’s 420 acres in Gaylord. A DNR study concluded that cutting down trees to make way for solar panels increases carbon emissions, Roth told CapCon, added that the plan specifically stated not to remove trees and replace them with solar panels. Roth couldn’t provide the survey and the Department Natural Resources did not respond to a request for a copy of it.

The Fauquier County Planning Commission unanimously determined a proposed utility-scale solar project in the southern part of the county was not in accordance with the county’s comprehensive plan during its Feb. 20 meeting. Open Roads Renewables, a Texas-based developer, submitted an application for a compliance review for its Midland-area agrivoltaics project, the Almeda Solar Grazing Center. The project, previously reviewed by the commission in 2023 and found inconsistent with the comprehensive plan, returned with a reworked proposal...he proposed solar facility would generate 90 megawatts of power on 516 acres within a total property area of 941 acres, spanning 14 parcels. Mike Volpe, senior vice president and co-founder of Open Roads Renewables, acknowledged the previous rejection and outlined the steps taken to address the commission’s concerns. While a few speakers expressed support, the majority of public comments opposed the project...Janet Light, a lifelong Fauquier resident, realtor and crop adjuster, argued that productive farmland was being targeted for solar developments...She cited a recent Farm Bureau report stating that solar developers seek farmland because it is already cleared and level, making it ideal for their projects. “We’re losing farmland at 100,000 acres a year in Virginia, and a lot of it’s due to solar,” she said. “Why would we want to lose more in Fauquier County?”

An energy firm has launched an appeal over its rejected plans to build a solar farm outside Salisbury that would provide power for nearly 10,000 homes. A Wiltshire Council planning committee defied a case officer's recommendation and threw the controversial scheme out in August 2024. The applicant, Low Carbon Solar Park 24 Limited, had sought permission to build the solar farm across two fields to the south of Salisbury Road (A345) to the east of Coombe Bissett.

One by one, 11 trustees made their way to the microphone and reaffirmed their constituents still oppose solar in their Knox County township. The townships previously sent a resolution to the Board of County Commissioners asking to be an exclusionary township for solar....Trustee Donna Hochstetler said Clinton Township passed a resolution on Tuesday to exclude solar in the township.

The Madison County Board voted against the building of a solar facility in Collinsville Township. Armoracia Solar applied for a special use permit to develop a commercial solar energy facility at the southeast corner of Interstate 55 and Pleasant Ridge Road in Collinsville. The property, owned by Jacob Frey and Scott Frey, is zoned as an “R-3” Single-Family Residential District. The Madison County Zoning Board of Appeals recommended that the application be denied. At the County Board meeting on Feb. 19, 2025, several people spoke in favor and in opposition of the solar facility. The County Board ultimately voted to uphold the Zoning Board of Appeal’s denial. Mick Madison, the chairman of the Building and Zoning Committee, explained that property values and concerns about the reflection off the solar panels were the main reasons why the Committee decided to deny it. “Hurting property values was one of the things that we looked at the most,” Madison said. “It’s going to be detrimental to someone’s property values."...Madison added that he decided to vote against the solar facility because he felt the closest solar panel to the property line was “way too close” at 157 feet. He noted that the property is zoned residential, and the surrounding homeowners did not build their homes with the expectation that a commercial solar facility would be built nearby.

Councillors have rejected plans for a 70-acre solar farm between two villages, saying it would have been "visible for miles". Energy company Anesco Limited wanted to build the farm in agricultural fields between Bretby and Newton Solney in Derbyshire. On Tuesday, South Derbyshire District Council rejected the plan, deeming the project, off Knights Lane and Newton Lane, a misuse of "best and most versatile" agricultural land. Anesco had said the scheme would be capable of powering 8,000 homes per year, producing 21 megawatts of electricity, and would "coexist harmoniously within the surrounding environment".

An application to build a solar farm on 200 acres of farmland in Cornwall has been refused by councillors. Cornwall Council voted against the Speedwell Solar Farm Ltd development at Gwinear, near Hayle on Thursday, with 10 in favour of the refusal and one abstention. Planners had recommended the site, which would have the potential to power the equivalent of 12,000 homes, for approval. Harm to grade II heritage buildings on the 22 agricultural fields on the site and turning the farmland to an industrial landscape were among the reasons cited for the rejection.