Large solar farms are on the rise in Oregon, in a push to fulfill the state’s ambitious clean energy mandates. But their rapid rise is leading to worries about how they could reshape the state’s agricultural economy and rural vistas.

In November, the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council, a board that oversees the siting of large energy facilities, approved the state’s largest solar farm – and one of the country’s largest – on about 10,000 acres of active farmland in Morrow County. It’s one of several multi-thousand acre solar farms poised to be built in Oregon.

Most of the projects will cover cultivable agricultural land, taking thousands of acres out of production and reshaping the rural landscape. This has brought questions about the potential impacts to farmers, ranchers, tourists and wildlife.

Sarah Esterson, a senior policy advisor on the state’s Energy facility siting team, talked on Beat Check about how the state approves large solar farms and what it requires of developers to offset impacts to rural economies and landscapes.

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