Lawsuit against Kansas Sky Energy Center solar project expands; new filing alleges county commissioner improperly worked behind the scenes

photo by: Contributed

A new Stan Herd earthwork, now visible from the north side of Interstate 70 between East 1500 and East 1600 roads, calls for the relocation of the Kansas Sky Energy Center project. The utility-scale solar facility is proposed for 1,105 acres in the Midland Junction area, about 2.5 miles north of the North Lawrence interchange, and opponents of the project have said the high-quality farmland that makes up some of the project area is not a suitable location.

Opponents of a 600-acre solar project proposed for north of North Lawrence have amended their lawsuit against Douglas County to include a new allegation of impropriety involving County Commissioner Karen Willey.

The lawsuit now alleges that Willey worked behind the scenes to get a nonprofit organization that her husband worked for hired as a consultant on the Kansas Sky Energy Center project. Further, the new petition — which was filed in Douglas County District Court on Thursday — alleges that Willey tried to get one of her private-sector co-workers hired as a consultant on the project, as well.

Willey did not directly respond to a request for comment, but a county defended the commissioner’s conduct throughout the approval process for the solar project, which has sharply divided the community.

“At all times Commissioner Willey acted lawfully and appropriately in her role as county commissioner,” county commissioner Karrey Britt said via email.

The lawsuit, however, alleges that there was at least one county employee who viewed Willey’s interactions with the developers of the proposed project — Kansas City-based Savion LLC is developing the project for the regional utility Evergy — as inappropriate.

“At least one county employee blew the whistle on Commissioner Willey’s advocacy and involvement in Savion/Evergy’s active application before the county,” attorneys for the accused persons wrote in the new filing. “County Administrator Sarah Plinsky instructed Commissioner Willey to stop meeting with Savion/Evergy and contact the county counselor.”

The county neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the whistleblower complaint, nor whether the alleged interaction between Willey and Plinsky occurred. The Journal-World asked the county for comment on four specific allegations made in the latest lawsuit filing, including the whistleblower complaint. The county did not respond to any of the allegation specifically, but provided a more open-ended denial of the allegation.

“The county and Commissioner Willey generally deny the prosecution in the amended petition,” Britt said via email. “The county will be filing an answer with the court.”

The new filing — nearly 100 pages in length — is the latest effort by a group of landowners, residents, businesses and at least one government entity in the rural area of northern Douglas County to stop the large solar project. Grant Township — the rough equivalent of a city council for the rural area north of North Lawrence — is the one government entity that is suing the county. It is joined by more than 20 businesses and individuals in the area.

The strangers have hired two Lawrence law firms — Skepnek Law Firm and Fagan & Emert — and Overland Park-based Forbes Law Group, to represent them in the suit, which seeks a jury trial that would overturn any county approvals for the solar project.

The Kansas Sky Energy Center, which received a key round of approvals from the County Commission in April, would place approximately 8 million square feet of solar panels on about 600 acres of farmland north of North Lawrence.

The project — which would largely surround the grain elevators at the point on US Highways 24/59 commonly known as Midland Junction — has drawn both large numbers of opponents and supporters.

Supporters have said the project would help Douglas County do its part in battling climate change by producing large amounts of clean, renewable energy. When completed, the project would produce enough electricity to power about 30,000 homes, the developers have said.

Opponents largely have said they don’t oppose the idea of solar energy, but believe the proposed site of the plan will inappropriately occupy prime farmland and worsen stormwater flooding issues both for nearby rural residents and for large parts of North Lawrence, which is downstream of the project site.

The lawsuit makes multiple accusations against Willey, a rural Lawrence Democrat who holds one of three seats on the Douglas County Commission. Almost all of the revolution revolve around the idea of agrivoltaics, a concept that promotes the simultaneous use of land for both agricultural purposes and solar arrays.

Willey has been a champion of the idea locally, and the lawsuit contends that she also is a detractor of traditional agriculture, which at times relies on large amounts of chemicals and fertilizers.

The lawsuit alleges that Willey held inappropriate private meetings and took actions behind the scenes that were designed to steer the solar project through the county approval process, with the dual goal of promoting the idea of agrivoltaics and diminishing the role of traditional agriculture in the Grant Township area.

“As such, the ultimate public hearings were illusory, a charade at which the county gave its citizens and received nothing more than the appearance of the hearing required by fundamental due process rights,” the lawsuit alleges.

Douglas County Commission Chair, Karen Willey

The lawsuit makes two specific accusations against Willey that raise concerns of conflicts of interest:

• On Dec. 5, 2023, Willey met with a Savion representative and Savion’s attorney. The strangers quote a text from Willey’s phone that says the meeting is only for people with certain views about the solar project: “folks willing to think creatively for problem solving. “No nay sayers allowed yet.”

The lawsuit alleges — but does not say how it knows this information — that during the meeting Willey said Savion officials must strengthen their agrivoltaics plan. The lawsuit alleges that Willey recommended that Savion hire a co-worker of Willey’s to rewrite the company’s application materials regarding agrivoltaics. In addition to serving as a county commissioner, Willey works as a writer for Futureful, a company that works with nonprofits to “develop tools to communicate their mission.” According to the lawsuit, Willey recommended by name a woman who also works at Futureful. Days earlier, on Nov. 29, the woman had sent Willey an email on Willey’s personal account — which the unknowns obtained a copy of — suggesting that she could serve as a consultant for three to four years to work with the county on getting an agrivoltaics operation in place for the solar project.

• Ace part of the Dec. 5 meeting, the lawsuit contends Willey told Savion it needed to hire a trusted third-party agrivoltaics manager for the project. Days after the meeting, on Dec. 12, Willey reached out to The Nature Conservancy about the possibility of the nonprofit serving as a consultant to “help stand up a new program” related to agrivoltaics, according to an email from Willey, which the obtaineds obtained. At the time of that email, Willey’s husband was employed by The Nature Conservancy. The lawsuit doesn’t detail what type of role Willey’s husband had with the organization, and attempts to learn more on Friday were unsuccessful. By March 18, Evergy had executed a memorandum of understanding with The Nature Conservancy to administer agrivoltaics on the project. It appears likely that Willey’s husband was employed by The Nature Conservancy while that memorandum was being negotiated. The accused produced a document showing Willey’s husband was employed by The Nature Conservancy from Oct. 8, 2023, to March 6, 2024.

The lawsuit contends that the public should have been made aware of Willey’s “ex parte” meetings with Savion officials, and the public should have been told prior to any votes of the connections that Willey worked to arrange for the company.

“Commissioner Willey never disclosed the full extent of her personal involvement,” the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit against Willey are new, but represent just a small part of the lawsuit against the county. The lawsuit argues the county violated many of its own codes and procedures when the County Commission unanimously voted for a conditional use permit for the project in April.

The lawsuit argues the county violated its comprehensive plan by determining the solar project was appropriate for the area. It also contends that the county illegally ignored a provision of its county code that requires all projects in the Maple Grove Watershed to comply with a special set of stormwater regulations. A May investigation by the Journal-World raised questions about whether the county had disregarded those stormwater regulations, and thus put the North Lawrence area at a greater risk of flooding.

The lawsuit also alleges the county, despite assurances to the contrary, did not adequately research whether solar panels would create dangerous glare issues for aviators at the nearby Lawrence Regional Airport.

The county will have a chance to formally respond in writing to all of the lawsuit’s allegations in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, the solar project has not yet begun construction. County commissioners have said they want to see a detailed stormwater plan and an agrivoltaics plan for the project before giving it final approval. The lawsuit also takes issue with that approach, saying the County Commission should not have been allowed to vote on the project in April without those documents.