The Solar Farm That Almost Destroyed Copake, N.Y.
Residents of a small upstate town were bitterly divided over a planned development — until they weren’t.
The Sutter Greenworks Solar Site in Calverton, New York.
Photographer: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North AmericaBack in 2016, when renewable power developer Hecate Energy was looking for a prime location for a solar energy farm, Copake, New York, caught the company’s attention. It’s easy to understand why: Solar panels take up space. Copake, a rural upstate hamlet of gentle hills and bucolic pastureland, has plenty. There is also an electrical substation nearby to handle the power that the solar farm would produce. And with Democratic political leadership, and a relatively liberal bent, Copake seemed poised to be a welcoming environment for renewable energy.
By the beginning of 2017, Hecate was striking lease deals with local farmers for a 60-megawatt installation on multiple parcels of land, to be called Shepherd’s Run solar farm. The company conducted feasibility studies and environmental analyses. It planned for traffic flow and animal migration and stormwater runoff.