At the Warren County farm, located south of Monmouth on U.S. Highway 67, a substation owned by McDonough Power is housed there, making it a point of interest in connecting to the electrical grid. Board President, Mike Pearson, informs they have been contacted by several solar companies to lease the land, with the most recent being Delorean Power, who wanted to construct a battery storage facility. Following extensive discussion, the Warren County Board has voted to pass on the proposal informs Pearson:
“Their request was for six acres and they wanted to put in battery backup storage so that when the power is being generated and not needed, they would store it and then at a peak time or if power went down, they could backup the grid and provide power. This is new technology, definitely new to us, and we had a lot of questions, which the company provided some answers, but the conclusion was that this is new technology that had potentially more hazards than opportunities and the impact of the income changed from having corn and beans. At this point in time we are passing on that and continuing to have it farmed.”
Additionally, the Warren County Board passed a resolution in support of agriculture in Warren County, formally acknowledging the jobs created, technologies embraced, and environmental practices implemented by local farmers in the county.
