Community members make voices heard on solar, other matters

A very well-attended county commissioners meeting on February 3 gave way to many public comments regarding a range of hot topics such as industrial solar, battery energy storage systems (BESS), carbon capture and storage (CCS) and data centers. First, prior to public comment, commissioner Jenny Knebel was on the agenda to give some updates on industrial solar and BESS as well as some information on a recent meeting she had with Max Engling, the Central Indiana Regional Director for Republican U.S. Senator Jim Banks. She started by saying that a resident had emailed the commissioners recently about BESS and she said that she encourages residents to continue sharing information with them. In regards to her meeting with Engling, Knebel said that she met with him the week prior when he came down from Fort Wayne to tour and have discussions about renewable energy in Pulaski, White and Jasper Counties.