Farmer tells ABC57 why he's leasing land to Mammoth Solar as Doral Renewables proposes expansion

PULASKI COUNTY, Ind.-- Lifelong Pulaski County farmer Scott Fritz is one of hundreds of landowners leasing to Doral Renewables LLC for the Mammoth Solar Project.

"I see this as just another crop," he said.

Harvesting sunlight for energy rather than growing traditional crops.

"The fuel of the past was oats and hay to power the transportation industry of the time. Now, we produce ethanol to power the transportation industry of the time," Fritz said. "It seems to me like the transportation of the future is going to be electricity. So why don't we produce it on our farm?"

Not to mention it's a pretty paycheck for a farmer who understands how hard it can be to maintain a steady cash flow in the ag business.

"How is this county going to generate additional tax revenue? But here comes solar," Fritz said.

Doral Renewables LLC is a Philadelphia-based, Israeli-backed company, which already has 13,000 acres of land for its Mammoth Solar Project in both Starke and Pulaski Counties.

But now the company is looking to expand even further in Pulaski County.

"There was a lot of interest from land owners that were not able to participate in the first project, or in the first phases, and so, we've been looking to accommodate those landowners into another project, and we were able to assemble the land," said Kevin Parzyck, senior vice president of development for Doral.

That new project, still in its infancy, will be called "Mammoth Grazing Lands and Pastures," and could generate another 900-plus megawatts of power.

Scott Fritz is participating in what's called agrivoltaics. That means he will have agriculture and industry side-by-side on his land. He will grow crops on the land used for setbacks, and he is growing a sheep herd to graze the land shared by panels.

The Mammoth Solar Project is on track to be completed and fully operational by the end of 2026 or early 2027.