Residents and a former lawmaker are raising concerns about a solar farm near Reed Point that appears to have panels facing the wrong direction and falling off their mounts.
The 8,000-panel solar farm sits in Sweet Grass County, just off Interstate 90, and has drawn complaints from neighbors in Stillwater County who say they were not notified it was being built until construction began in December of 2017.
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Marty Malone, a former state legislator and former Park County commissioner, said he noticed the problems while driving past on I-90.
"Some of the panels are heading south or west, and some of them are east," Malone said.
Malone said the project was funded by a grant, and he wants to know whether it has been abandoned.
"My concern was this: Did the developer run out of money to maintain this thing... and who's responsible for cleaning up the mess on that land, that property?" Malone said.
Tim Dolphay lives in adjacent Stillwater County, about 600 feet from the solar farm.
"You see solar panels facing all kinds of different directions, all different times of the day," Dolphay said.
"Now I see that some of them are actually falling off the pedestals," Dolphay said.
John Siemion is Dolphay's next-door neighbor and lives closer to the site.
He said high winds from the Livingston area, which can reach 100 miles per hour, have taken a toll on the installation.
"The wind tears them up really bad," Siemion said. "They've been broke more than they've been used."
According to the Sweet Grass County commissioners, the company behind the project is keeping up with property taxes, but commissioners said they do not know about the maintenance status or whether the solar farm is generating electricity.
Adapture Renewables, an Oakland, Calif.-based company, is behind the River Bend Solar Project.
A woman who answered the phone said she is based in the Philippines but would pass the message along to the right people.
Meanwhile, neighbors say they feel ignored when asked if others in Reed Point share the concerns.
"I just think they got tired of saying anything about it because it wasn't going to do any good," Dolphay said.
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