Solar panel farm proposal sparks controversy among Grifton community 

GRIFTON, N.C. (WITN) – On Tuesday night, dozens of residents came out to the Grifton Train Depot to voice their concerns about a controversial proposed solar panel farm project in Stokestown, a community outside of Grifton. Hexagon Energy, a renewable energy company based in Charlottesville, VA is proposing the project which is made possible with 12 participating landowners who are either longtime residents or generational landowners in the area. The project titled Stokestown Solar will utilize 460 acres out of 1,383-acres of leased land to supply 80 MW in clean power energy to over 100,000 Duke Energy customers. “This provides income and revenue for local people who own the land and this allows them to keep their land in their family for several generations to come,” Ally Kranz, Hexagon Energy’s Senior Development Manager said. “If this land ultimately- the landowner decides to return to farmland that’s possible. The panels will not poison the ground, it will not impact the groundwater so this land will be ready for farming if that’s what the landowner ultimately decides to do with their private property 30-ish years from now when the site is decommissioned.” Residents in the Grifton area say they are concerned about the long-term effects of the project including health, and environmental effects as well as lower property value.“It is hazardous and we don’t know the long-term effects,” Johnny Beddard, a 40-year resident of Grifton said. “It does devalue the land and there’s a number of things that we just don’t know. It’s the long term that I’m worried about, the long term health problems.”Developers say the project is safe and non-toxic. “I think the biggest concern with what I heard was that people are concerned about the health risks,” Kranz said. “The research that is out there, that has been out there for decades says that these are not a health risk to people but there is evidence of the contrary if you look for it.” The project which is still in its proposal stage, requires a Conditional Rezoning Permit by Pitt County Planning Commissioners. Developers say they will take into consideration the concerns of the community before submitting their permit application.Hexagon Energy says if the application is approved by Pitt County Commissioners, the project will pay over $7.4 million in tax revenue to Pitt County over the course of its operation and will create full time jobs during the construction period. They say if approved, construction will not begin until 2027 or later.Copyright 2025 WITN. All rights reserved.