Hold off on planned solar farm near Eldorado for now

Currently, there is an application on file for a very large solar facility planned for about one mile to the northwest of Eldorado.

This application has been submitted by the AES Corp., a large for-profit company. As a resident of Eldorado, I am concerned about the size of this planned facility and the danger it could present to the residents of Eldorado, Rancho Viejo and Rancho San Marcos — over 10,000 residential properties.

I am not opposed to solar energy. I support moving to alternative energy sources and am very concerned about climate change and its impact on all of us. However, I believe that a facility of this size should be situated farther from any residential areas.

This proposed facility will include 239,000 solar panels, a 2-acre substation, and 4 acres with 69, 20-foot battery containers housing over 400,000 lithium-ion battery cells. These cells are known in the industry for their risk of catching fire, which can lead to a thermal runaway fire that may also explode. In recent years, AES has had two fires — one of which led to an explosion — in battery facilities connected to them in Arizona. It is also important to note that, should this occur with the proposed facility, it would take about 7 minutes for the fire to reach Eldorado homes.

There also is a major natural gas pipeline on the western edge of Eldorado, which runs above ground in some places. A representative of New Mexico Gas Co. confirmed that should a wildfire reach those exposed lines, there is a high risk that a gas explosion would occur.

I suggest that there be a moratorium on the AES application for its solar facility until the appropriate regulations for such a project are in place and to give our county commissioners the needed time to investigate the magnitude of this facility and its potential impact on our communities.