Tree hugging

It’s good for business!

WE MAY still have a lot of trees in this state, but that doesn’t mean we’re backwoods. And solar power isn’t just for Californians, techies and tree huggers any more.

A number of our business and community leaders are leading the charge when it comes to solar energy, and they’re doing it from a “good business” perspective. Which is the best kind of perspective.

Numerous solar projects are in the works, ranging from planning in some cases to installation underway to fully operational for several years. It’s a story of momentum. County X is seeing that City Y is doing a project because they saw that company Z was already succeeding at it.

For instance, Producers Rice Mill in Stuttgart is in the process of installing a 20-megawatt power plant with battery storage and a micro-grid to power somewhere northward of 60 percent of its operations depending on the amount of rice being milled. When it’s completed, it will be the largest commercial and industrial solar project in Arkansas. The rice mill’s projected energy cost savings are in the millions over the next 30 years.

The Union County Quorum Court is looking at converting a landfill into a solar farm to provide electricity for county facilities such as the county health unit, the courthouse and the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce. They’ve been talking to the old pros in nearby Ouachita County who have been powering the Ouachita County Medical Center, the detention center and the City of Camden Wastewater plant since 2019— and are happy they did.

In the case of Union County, the project should be paid off and start generating revenue in the 16th year of operation. If federal tax credits are secured, it could be profitable in as few as 13 years. Incidentally, most solar panels come with 25-year warranties, but have a life expectancy in excess of 30 years.

Best of all, these projects are not just green for the environment, but green for the color of money. They’re being made as “business” decisions that make sense for taxpayers in the case of government entities and shareholders in the case of businesses.

This is why we have good things: innovation.

We are firm believers in the law of supply and demand and, make no mistake, that law applies to the energy economy as much as it does to any other market. The more energy supply we have, the less it will cost consumers, many of whom can ill afford to pay in a state with the fifth worst poverty rate in the country. Yes, fully 15.2 percent of our state’s residents live below the poverty line. Only Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and West Virginia are worse off. Because energy is an absolutely critical element of our modern society, the more supply that is available, the less reliance the poor will have on good and necessary taxpayer-funded programs like the Low Income Energy Assistance Program.

This energy transition has been coming for a long time and it will continue coming for decades into the future. It’s all very positive.

FROM AN environmental standpoint, there can be no denying that the sunshine is not only free as a resource, but does no harm to the environment. There can also be no denying that solar farms disrupt wildlife habitat—a bit.

Further, the rare-earth minerals used in solar panels to effectively trap the energy are commodities much like oil and are subject to price swings like we see in oil markets. Like oil, they are found in faraway places that don’t seem to appreciate We the People of the U. S. of A. very much.

We’re talking about Red China and Russia. Combined, they are home to slightly less than 50 percent of the world’s reserves of rare-earth minerals compared to the paltry 2 percent held in the U.S. and Canada.

Additionally, environmentally speaking, the processes used both to mine and refine these minerals in China and Russia make mountaintop removal of coal in West Virginia look like a practice that should be celebrated on Earth Day.

The solar and other renewable projects in Arkansas and all across the United States should be hailed for the new age they’re bringing. However, as we step into this bold new era, expectations should be managed.

Although solar may be better than the way we currently harness the world’s energy resources, it still comes with a cost.