From coal to clean energy as solar takes root near Mansfield | Business

Over 1,000 acres of property considered a brownfield — a contaminated parcel of land made so in this case by the mining of coal — will now be a site for clean energy.

The flip is an irony not lost on some of those gathered for the Dolet Hills Solar Facility groundbreaking Friday.

The expansive solar farm is off Highway 175 in DeSoto Parish near Mansfield, a total of 3,000 acres that will be covered in solar panels that will generate enough megawatts to power between 37,000 to 50,000 residential homes, depending on power usage.

“Our goal is to be the leading energy company in the state,” Cleco’s Chief Commercial Officer Shane Hilton told The Shreveport Bossier City Advocate. 

“This is our first solar project in the company’s almost 95-year history, and hopefully there’ll be many more, and also one of the biggest solar projects in the state of Louisiana.”

Hilton was joined at the Friday groundbreaking by DESRI, which owns, will install and maintain the panels, and other officials from Cleco Power, which will be buying the electricity, Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, and representatives of Governor Jeff Landry, and the city of Mansfield and DeSoto Parish.

Work has already begun on the project, which will be done in phases with completion planned in 2027. 

The project is unique in a number of ways, including one that will give customers the ability to opt in to using electricity generated by solar.

“We respond to what our customers are telling us they want, and we’re selling them what they want, not trying to force something on them that they don’t want,” said Hilton. “So this is, again, our first step in the right direction, and it’s a it’s a big splash and really, really exciting to do it right here in Northwest Louisiana.”