WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – Local planning commissioners met Tuesday to consider a nearly 1,500-acre solar and battery storage project in southern Sedgwick County.

The proposal has met with opposition from neighbors in the area.

Inside a room on the third floor of the Reagan Building, dozens of people spoke out both for and against the Galena Solar project. Those comments led planning commissioners to defer a decision on the project to June 11.

Community members shared a range of views with the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission.

“We need clean energy. Please approve this project,” one person said.

“There are more suitable areas for this type of development,” another said.

“My problem here is that this is not being done responsibly,” a third person said.

Planning commissioners also heard from the company behind the project.

Ethan Frazier with Mission Clean Energy said the region faces growing energy needs.

“We are already in a deficit of about a gigawatt of power. As you look further into the future we are adding two, five, six, seven additional gigawatts,” Frazier said.

Frazier said his company wants to address rising energy demand and costs.

“Stabilize, or at least put some downward pressure on power prices as demand, not only in Sedgwick County, not only in Wichita, but across the entire Midwest and the region is going to continue to increase,” Frazier said.

Commissioners voted to defer the decision to June 11.

Mission Clean Energy told commissioners that about 30 conditions agreed upon during the early planning stages of the project address many of the concerns raised.

If planning commissioners approve the project, it will need three out of five votes from the Board of County Commissioners to pass. If they deny the project, it will need four out of five votes.