USS Hilltop Solar LLC was granted an 18-month extension last week for when it must complete construction of a 3.0 megawatts solar array on a farm in Natural Bridge Station.
The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors on Monday, Aug. 14, voted 3-2 to grant the extension. The solar company sought the extension because of delays in the regulatory process such as obtaining approvals for a Virginia Department of Transportation entrance permit and plans for erosion and sediment control and storm water management.
Those delays, in turn, caused USS Hilltop Solar to have to renegotiate its power purchase agreement with Dominion Energy. The new PPA is expected to be signed in August. This will create a revenue stream so that construction of the project can proceed, explained Dan Csaplar, senior project developer with USS Hilltop Solar.
The new timetable calls for implementation of the plans to be underway by May 1, 2026, and the project to be completed by June 30, 2027.
The 21-acre site where the solar array is to go is on the west side of the intersection of Lloyd Tolley Road (Va. 773) and Gilmores Mill Road (Va. 708). The farm, owned by Douglas E. Braford at the time a special exception permit was granted in January of 2024, is now owned by William S. Shepard and Jennifer K. Rattigan.
Three citizens who spoke during a public hearing raised objections to granting the extension. They suggested that tax credits were the driving force behind the project, rather than a demand for the energy the project would produce.
“Why couldn’t they meet the deadlines? I don’t understand the reason for the lag,” said Bill Russell.
“This is a really bad spot for this under the best of conditions,” said Don Jeffer, whose farm is in sight of where the solar array is to go. USS Solar, he said, “[doesn’t] have their stuff together on building it.” He urged the supervisors to at least delay approving the extension until the county has adopted guidelines on the approval process for solar facilities.
“We do have our stuff together as a company,” Csapler responded. The company has built 100 of these facilities to date. “Hindsight is 20-20,” he added. In retrospect, “I should have asked for a three-year time frame [for building the facility].”
When discussion returned to the supervisors, Leslie Ayers noted, “We have extended deadlines in the past.”
Dan Lyons made a motion to grant the extension. Jay Lewis seconded the motion, which passed 3-2, over dissents from David McDaniel and Bob Day.
