A prominent lawyer is warning Riverina farmers to exercise caution when pursuing solar farms as a revenue stream.
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It comes as a number of solar farms in the Riverina area, have been approved or are being assessed by the state government.
Leeton recently launched a solar plant at its waste water treatment facility and has a bigger solar farm project in the works.
The Riverina has been touted as one of the most ideal areas in the country for solar farms, but Aitken Lawyers partner Andrew Aitken said those looking to take advantage of sunny days ahead needed to make sure energy companies weren’t ripping them off. He stressed the new frontier was a step in the right direction for our future energy needs, but said, from his experience, developers could take advantage of the trusting nature of rural landowners.
The best advice he could give to farmers was to communicate with each other and create a syndicate. “Acting as a group gives negotiating power,” Mr Aitken said.
“It prevents the energy companies from playing residents off each other. (We’re here to) try to stop the developers from dividing and conquering.”
He said any landowners looking to go down the path of renewable energy needed to understand the contract details, saying a lot of companies talked up the dollars, but didn’t elaborate on the risks.
“It’s not just the reflectors, it’s the other costs such as pest (control), fire (prevention), and traffic movements,” Mr Aitken said.