A meeting is set for Tuesday, July 15th for the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide environmental assessment information to the public on a proposed Colbert County solar project to be located along Highway 43.
The meeting will be held at Colbert Heights High School, 6825 Woodmont Drive, from 6-8 p.m., Tuesday.
Additionally, the public is invited to submit written comment on the proposed project. If mailed, comments must be received/postmarked on or before August 11, 2025, and should be sent to Tennessee Valley Authority, Attn: Elizabeth Smith, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT-11D, Knoxville, Tenn., 37902.
Comments may also be emailed to nepa@tva.gov, on or before August 11th.
All comments received, including the name and address of those who submit them, will become part of the project’s administrative record and will be available for public inspection.
TVA has already posted the Spring Valley Solar Draft Environmental Impact for public review at www.tva.com/nepa.
TVA entered into a power purchase agreement with Spring Valley, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Urban Grid, to purchase power generated by the proposed Spring Valley Solar Project along U.S. Highway 43. The draft environmental impact statement contains two alternatives—no action or action.
The no action option would result in TVA not purchasing power generated by the project under the proposed 20-year agreement and TVA would not be involved with the project in any fashion.
The action alternative would see Spring Valley Solar, LLC, constructing and operating a 178-megawatt AC single-axis tracking photovoltaic (PV) solar power facility on 943 acres of a 1,629-acre project site.
Rep. Jamie Kiel, whose House District 18 includes the location of the proposed solar farm, has publicly stated his opposition to the project, which would be ‘subsidized by taxpayers,’ Kiel posted on his Facebook page.
Kiel solicited public input about the project, most of which was in opposition to the solar farm project. While the land is owned by private individuals who have the legal right to construct the solar farm on land they own, TVA’s involvement as purchaser of the power it generates has yet to be decided.
Kiel says the solar farm tract would begin near the Belle Mont Mansion, across the Cotton Flats, all the way to Longhorn R Arena.
Much of the social media comments opposing the project suggest a solar farm would be a wasteful use of the large tract of land. Others, though, support the landowner’s right to use property in the way he or she believes to be best.
