County planners and landowners are getting ready for a radically different type of farm planned for the area west of Gardner. Once it’s operational, the West Gardner Solar Project by NextEra Energy will be the largest such solar farm in the state, and a new type of energy-producing sight for Kansans more accustomed to seeing spinning wind turbines and nodding oil pumpers on the prairie. Some 2,000 acres have already been signed for the project, which is expected to generate 320 megawatts of power and could be online by 2023. The idea of such a massive solar farms is new enough to Johnson County that county planners had no rules governing things like setbacks and screening in place before being approached by NextEra.
Source: Shawnee Mission Post
