In order to block a proposed Dane County solar farm, opponents are asserting that the project purchase violates the Wisconsin Constitution, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report. Two residents and the town of Christiana have filed a motion asking the Public Service Commission to dismiss the utilities’ application, stating the leases are void under a clause in the state Constitution that limits leases on agricultural land to 15 years.
Chicago-based developer Invenergy has applied for a permit to build a solar-plus-storage facility west of Cambridge. The project would involve about 2,400 acres and a $649 million purchase from utilities We Energies and Madison Gas and Electric. The application states that Invenergy secured land for the project with 25-year leases that can be extended for another 25 years, and opponents argue those leases are legally void. The applicable passage cited in the Constitution is from Article 1, Section 14, which says, “Leases and grants of agricultural land for a longer term than 15 years in which rent or service of any kind shall be reserved, and all fines and like restraints upon alienation reserved in any grant of land, hereafter made, are declared to be void.”
