Images captured by Fox affiliate FOX26 Houston KRIV show extensive damage to Fighting Jays Solar in Fort Bend County, Texas. (FOX26 Houston KRIV)
The Fort Bend County Environmental Health Department is investigating the incident and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has also been contacted regarding any potential chemical contamination, Needville Mayor Chad Nesvadba told Fox News Digital. Fort Bend County officials didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, represents the community surrounding the solar farm and is engaged with those whose homes, businesses and property were destroyed by the storm, according to spokesperson Emily Matthews, who noted the incident underscores the importance of an "all-of-the-above" approach to energy policy.
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"As far as solar farms being damaged where hail and tornadoes are common, those companies knowingly run the risk of building solar panel farms in these areas," Matthews told Fox News Digital. "Events like this underscore the importance of having an all-of-the-above energy approach to meet our energy needs and showcase how our country cannot solely rely on or fully transition to renewable energy sources like this."
Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, the parent company of the Fighting Jays Solar project's developer, AP Solar Holdings, confirmed the storm had taken out much of the farm, but there was currently no risk to the nearby community of chemical exposure.
Rep. Troy Nehls, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, during a June 6, 2023, hearing. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
"There's this enormous shell game happening by the Biden administration, by the environmental left, presenting wind and solar as perfectly green, clean, and carbon-neutral," Turner told Fox News Digital. "They use all of these buzzwords. But they're none of that and they also have enormous drawbacks. And it's doing the American people a great disservice to obfuscate these very obvious shortcomings."
He noted that, because solar panels are largely manufactured in China, the destruction of solar farms could be leveraged in geopolitical disputes between the U.S. and China.
"Why would we expect them to race to our aid when our grid is down nationwide, and they are the ones holding the goods that we need to get back up?" Turner said.
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Fighting Jays Solar came online in July 2022 and spans more than 3,000 acres, according to AP Solar Holdings. It is located about 40 miles from downtown Houston.
The destruction of the project, meanwhile, comes as the nation broadly races to replace existing fossil fuel power with green energy alternatives. But those plans have been criticized by experts who warn of those energy sources' reliance on certain windy and sunny weather conditions.
Thomas Catenacci is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hailstorm-destroys-massive-solar-farm-sparking-fears-of-chemical-contamination