For more than two years, a New York renewable energy company has been working to build a large solar farm in rural western St. James Parish — is now poised for a final vote from parish officials after dialing back its earlier plans amid public opposition.

D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments has plans to sell 360 megawatts of solar power to Entergy Louisiana, which is trying to meet the renewable power demands of its industrial customers in the region. 

In mid-2022, opposition to a bigger version of DESRI’s plans helped trigger a parish-wide moratorium on utility-scale solar projects and the creation of a new ordinance.

Now, DESRI is back with a solar farm that is 40% smaller than the earlier plan, with land buffers larger than what the new parish rules require to cut down on visual and sound impacts. The solar panels would be designed to withstand winds of 139 mph and to “stow” themselves to minimize hail strikes, the company says.

NOLA.com