Iowa Republicans on the Senate Ag Committee have approved a bill that would forbid energy companies, including Rural Electric Cooperatives, from installing solar panels on land suitable for growing corn and soybeans.
Senator Dan Zumbach of Ryan says he sponsored the bill because of a rapidly expanding solar farm in his district.
“It’s about protecting our most precious resource, and that’s Iowa’s farmland.”
If the bill becomes law, solar panel fields would also have to be at least a half mile from other solar installations and more than 1,200 feet from a neighbor’s property line.
