Opposition in rural counties is a major reason behind the lack of solar progress in the state. Photo from American Public Power Association, Unsplash.

By Noelle Maxwell
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Misinformation, myths and politics have contributed to Indiana’s lack of a cohesive, statewide policy on renewable energy.

Seventy-two of 92 counties have moratoriums or bans on such installations, according to legislative energy head Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso. Several attempts this year to intervene against blockages died, but lawmakers are starting to recognize the need for diversification.

“As long as there’s demand for renewables, if we can’t have them here, we’ll buy it from somewhere else — our folks will be paying the transmission costs plus the possibility of more,” said Soliday.

He said organized anti-renewable energy movements travel the state, attending county commissioners’ meetings, adding that they “can be quite unkind, threatening and so forth.”

While debate continues, the price of electricity is rising in Indiana. Once among the lowest in the United States, the state now ranks 28th for cost.

Locals See Things Differently

Decatur County resident and farm owner Albert Armand emphasized he’s not against solar, but concerned about preserving valuable farmland.

Larry Heger is another Decatur County resident who helps manage a Facebook group — Decatur County Citizens Stop Industrial Solar & Wind — alongside his wife. He described himself as “against solar taking out good-quality farm ground.”

Heger’s group is primarily local landowners who, he said “would live across the road from one of the projects” and are “very concerned about their landscape, how it affects their home value.”

He claims he’s encountered “like, less than a dozen” people supportive of renewable energy in Decatur County. Heger believes they’re the landowners “who signed the lease.”

While Decatur County has discussed a solar-specific ordinance, it’s currently under a moratorium. County Commissioner Jeremy Pasel, a Republican, declined to be interviewed.

Nearby Ripley County approved solar energy regulations last year.  County Commission President Mark Horstman said the three-person body felt their county needed its own standards.

He said the area eyed for solar expansion was in the north part of the county, with a farm and housing development nearby. Horstman is among those who believe such installations lower property values.

Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson testifies in committee on Tuesday, March 11. Photo by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Ripley County’s ordinance, Horstman believes, gives landowners room to negotiate while still requiring specific setback distances.

“I understand people have rights to do what they want on their land, but you don’t have a right to put confined feeding in a residential area, there’s rules in place,” and renewable energy should be handled similarly, he said.

He said he personally felt the ordinance should be more stringent but the three commissioners negotiated a compromise.

Future Of Renewables

Indiana Citizens Action Coalition Executive Director Kerwin Olson thinks these types of ordinances are holding Indiana back.

Olson and other renewable advocates say Indiana needs to diversify its energy portfolio to both reduce prices and eliminate fossil fuels. Several have pointed to White County as a leader.

The county currently has commercial wind and solar facilities, plus hydroelectric dams.

Its exploration of commercial wind began in 2007. Leaders reviewed ordinances and added language where needed.

But, “it wasn’t really the county that was pursuing this,” Republican Commission President Mike Smolek said. “It was the local farmers that were pursuing this.”

The county’s first commercial wind facility launched in 2008. The county approved the construction of a large-scale commercial solar facility in September 2024, according to WFLI.

But resistance to commercial solar and battery storage — plus, plenty of myths and misconceptions — has surged in recent years, per Smolek.

White County Commissioner Mike Smolek

“My biggest fight these last couple years has been fear and Facebook,” he said.

The prospect of small modular nuclear reactors have also prompted anxiety, Smolek said.

“Every manufacturer,” he explained, “every household, every business all depends on this same grid.”

That’s among Olson’s top two reasons why he says rural communities should consider renewable installations: Indiana’s currently an energy importer.

With renewable energy, Olson said, you get an energy source “that is not reliant on a fuel source and all the additional costs and volatility … operation and maintenance on the fossil fuel power plants.”

But number one is the revenue.

Renewable energy, he said, provides income for schools, roads, parks and more. It brings jobs to the community.

He acknowledged that studies on the impact to property values haven’t been conclusive. But he dismissed concerns about soil and farmland as “completely junk science — if you talk to Farm Bureau, the Purdue (University) agriculture folks.”

“Nobody … is saying we’re going to be 100% wind or 100% solar,” he continued.

“When you invest — you want a diverse portfolio. We (similarly) want a combination of all resources to ensure reliability, ensure resiliency to shelter ratepayers from the risk of being reliant on one source alone.”