During a public hearing Monday night in Lebanon, Russell County residents can weigh in on two proposed small, shared solar projects that would be built on farmland outside of Lebanon.

The hearing will be held during the county board of supervisors meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. 

Both projects are being developed by New Leaf Energy, a renewable energy developer headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The company wants to put solar operations on two separate, adjacent sites — one 24 acres and the other 26 acres — at 3700 River Mountain Road and 4000 River Mountain Road, behind Oak Grove Baptist Church. 

The board of supervisors is in the process of considering a solar facility siting agreement for both projects. The agreement spells out the terms governing the development and decommissioning of the project as well as the compensation paid to the county, in addition to tax payments, according to the meeting agenda.

The projects would be community solar, which would mean that residents, businesses and governments could have a partial interest in the output, according to New Leaf.

New Leaf chose Russell County for the projects because it is in Appalachian Power’s territory, which means it would qualify for the company’s shared solar program, the project manager with New Leaf said earlier.  The General Assembly approved the utility’s shared solar program in 2024.

The two Russell County projects are among 10 projects that have been awarded capacity in the program, according to Appalachian Power’s website. The completion date for both projects is Dec. 15, 2027, the website states. 

Each project would be 5 megawatts because shared solar projects are capped at that size by the state. The projects would each also have 12,800 solar panels, New Leaf said earlier.

County officials have been preparing for solar projects since 2017, when they signed a letter of commitment to the SolSmart National Designation Program. The federal program recognizes counties that have taken steps to address local barriers to solar energy and foster local solar markets.

In the years since then, county officials have updated the building permit application to include solar projects, implemented residential and commercial solar permit fees and approved revenue-sharing and siting agreements.

County Administrator Lonzo Lester said earlier that the county is attractive to solar developers because it has no zoning of land, which means developers don’t have to get special-exception permits approved for the projects, which wouldn’t otherwise be allowed in some zones. Some proposed solar projects in Virginia didn’t move forward after local governments denied the permits, though some were approved anyway. 

The meeting will be held at the Russell County Government Center, 137 Highland Drive, Lebanon. You can view the agenda here.