Carol Hall

As spring fire season begins and more than a dozen brush fires have sparked around Connecticut in March so far, the East Windsor delegation of lawmakers including State Representative Carol Hall (R-Enfield, East Windsor), State Representative Jaime Foster (D-East Windsor, Ellington, Vernon) and State Senator Saud Anwar (D-South Windsor), First Selectman Jason Bowsza and members of the East Windsor community are calling for the temporary closure of East Windsor’s Nextera solar project until residents’ safety is secured.

The calls for closure come after a fire broke out at the project on Tuesday, March 11, after reports of sparking wires several days prior at its site. First Selectman Bowsza said this is another public nuisance caused by the project, which has previously gained negative attention in town due to incorrectly installed inverters causing a persistent humming sound that bothers nearby residents.

Rep. Foster and First Selectman Bowsza visited the site and spoke with nearby property owners on Tuesday.

“The continued problems impacting the people of East Windsor from this Nextera project are untenable for nearby residents,” said Sen. Anwar. “I’m hopeful that the serious issues negatively affecting people living in the neighborhood can be addressed without further issue, especially with fire posing a serious physical threat. I stand with the residents of East Windsor who have voiced their grievances about the complications this project caused.”

“This is the latest in a saga of problems with this generator,” said Rep. Foster. “Yesterday, we immediately worked towards action to ensure the state, the legislature, and our towns, have the authority to hold bad actors accountable. This legislation will put safeguards in place to prevent reckless re-powering of malfunctioning generation and distribution sites, prioritizing public safety and community well-being over corporate negligence.”

“I have been saying for quite some time that these solar utilities belong in industrial zoned areas,” Rep. Hall said. “When incidents like the most recent one occur, they can pose a real danger to the families and individuals who live in their proximity, not to mention the incessant noise that area residents have had to deal with coming from this location. This is just another reason why these utilities should be placed as far away from residential neighborhoods as possible.”

“What we saw at the Nextera site yesterday is the just the most recent example of that company acting as an absentee landlord,” Bowsza said. “They have dismissed concerns raised for years about noise emitting from the exact spot where the fire broke out, and they have refused to rectify the issue. They were called out over the weekend to address sparking wires, and they failed to fix that issue, as well. They need to be held accountable, and they need to do right by the people who live next to this project. Nextera owns it, and they are responsible for it.”

“My husband and I were sitting in our living room when we heard an explosion, saw a wave of green light, and then a fire almost immediately followed,” said resident Amanda Wright. “I called 911 and within minutes, 40 trees had burned down. Not only has this solar plant been a nuisance for us because of the incessant ringing [noise], but now we’re concerned about the safety of our family, home, and neighbors. The solar company has ignored our complaints for years about the noise, and now we fear they will ignore our safety.”

“It seems we have an absentee landlord that promised us that they were going to take care of all the conditions at this site and now they’ve reneged on those promises and said, ‘we don’t care, we’re doing nothing,’” said resident Dana Van Steenburgh.

The nearest properties abutting the project are just 124 feet away from its development site, making any potential fires threatening to local property and safety.