ROBERTA NEE ADAMSStaff Writer

Silicon Ranch (SR) attended June’s Planning and Zoning meeting in Moore County to present their final site plan for approval. The site plan for the substation was approved earlier this year, and construction on it has begun.

Throughout the planning process SR has worked closely with environmentalist Tony Grow, as well as electrical engineer Josh Ezell, to assure that all requirements for the facility have been met. Both Grow and Ezell vouched for the final site plan. The board voted unanimously to approve the plan.

As construction on the substation continues, construction on the remaining site is expected to begin by early fall of this year. The plan includes an eighty foot vegetative barrier around the whole property, some of which is in place. The solar arrays will all be fenced when completed.

Instead of one large field of solar panels, there will be several areas of panels, with the largest being between West Lincoln Street out of Tullahoma and Highway 55 out of Tullahoma, with the whole of the solar farm in Moore County. Solar panels will cover less than one half of the whole property. The remainder of the property will be naturalized for sheep grazing, with wet areas protected.