A federal judge has dramatically reduced a jury’s $135 million award to a Georgia couple whose property was fouled by muddy runoff from a solar project next door down to $5 million, after objections from the plaintiffs in the case.
In an order issued Monday in the Middle District of Georgia, Judge Clay D. Land wrote that the punitive damages awarded to the couple were worth many magnitudes more than the property that was damaged, and therefore were excessive.
“Here, it is problematic that the jury’s award for loss of use of the property for a relatively limited time far exceeds not only what Plaintiffs paid for the property only two years before, but it exceeds the fair market value of the property at the time of trial,” Land wrote.
The judge, however, rejected requests from the companies behind the solar project to grant a new trial.
In late April, a jury found Silicon Ranch, a solar power developer, and its contractor, Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (IEA), were negligent and acted with “specific intent to cause harm” in constructing the 100-megawatt solar facility near Columbus.
Credit: Chase Gibson
Credit: Chase Gibson
The panels were installed in Stewart County in 2021 through a partnership between Nashville-based Silicon Ranch and Walton Electric Membership Corp. of Georgia. Electricity from the site powers a data center owned by Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — in Newton County, about an hour east of Atlanta. In Georgia and other states with ample sunshine, big tech companies are turning to solar to meet their enormous energy demands and reduce their emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.
The plaintiffs in the case, Stewart County residents Shaun and Amie Harris, live on a 1,630-acre property located downstream from the solar arrays. Their property, which includes a 21-acre lake, is managed as a wildlife and fishing refuge.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants cleared vegetation and mass-graded nearly 1,000 acres of land uphill from the Harrises without installing adequate erosion controls around the project.
The jury assigned $25 million in punitive damages to Silicon Ranch, and $50 million each to IEA and one of its subsidiaries, plus $10.5 million in compensatory damages against the three defendants. Westwood Professional Services Inc., the engineering firm behind the project’s erosion and sedimentation control plan, was cleared of liability.
In June, Judge Land also ordered the companies behind the project to halt any further releases of mud — or face potential penalties. Land also cited the value of the work to abate the nuisance as rationale for reducing the damages.
A special master appointed to monitor the remediation has said it is expected to be complete by October 2024.
The judge gave the solar companies 21 days to accept the new damages. If they do not, he said he would grant a new trial to address the punitive and compensatory damages only.
Jim Butler, an attorney for the Harrises, said he had “no comment” on the judge’s order. Silicon Ranch also declined to comment. IEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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