Warren County Commissioners heard from representatives from Invenergy Solar, who provided an update on the company’s 4,000-acre solar project in the county on Feb. 13. 

The solar project, largely located between Highways A and W in northern Warren County, is made up of over 30 interconnected pieces of property. It is expected to produce roughly 300 megawatts of power. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association 1 megawatt is enough to power more than 100 Missouri homes. 

Site Manager Luke Williams told the commission that work was moving along, and they were working underground, although recent winter weather has slowed their progress. He also said that roughly 30% of the modules, or solar panels, had been installed. 

He also warned that residents can expect some traffic disruptions as the project will be receiving the delivery of two transformers for the site in April. 

The transformers will be delivered on large self-driving trailers, according to Williams. 

“It’ll be about a lane and a half wide trailer, and so from what I’m hearing, I haven’t seen the route yet, the one for the solar farm it’ll be coming in over at Montgomery City,” said Williams. 

He also said the company would be releasing information to county residents again closer to the date to remind residents to expect delays in traffic around the delivery. 

He said the transformers weigh roughly 300 tons each and the trailers that deliver them will have between 30 and 48 axles, as opposed to 12 compared to a traditional tractor trailer. 

Commissioners did ask that the company work to improve their impact on local roads, and Williams and Clausen did concede that mud and other debris from the site had been a problem on local roads.

“I know a topic of conversation has been road safety and some of the mud on the roads,” said Clausen. “So that has been a topic that we’ve been approaching and trying to improve in the past couple weeks. I think we’re doing a much better job.”

He went on to say they have done work on all the site entrances and cleaned out the shake-out mats used to help remove mud and other aggregate from equipment as it leaves the site. 

Williams also said they were planning to do street sweeping and run water to clean roads once the weather was warm enough. 

Commissioners also reiterated that while they understood sometimes contractors on the project were going to use roads to transport equipment around the site, they would like to see more effort to keep roads clean behind them. 

“I’d like to see the sweeper or a bobcat or some laborers, when you’re moving this equipment, to remove this mud a little quicker,” said Northern District Commissioner Matt Flake. “I mean, Monday I watched a trackhoe go down Highway W at about 8:30 in the morning.”

Williams agreed that was an oversight and assured the commission they would be more careful in the future. 

“I was not happy about that one, I heard about that right after it got done and that one should never have happened,” said Williams. 

Aside from paying more attention to county and state roads, Clausen said the project is also organizing with local high schools to hold an assembly about renewable energy and the solar project. 

Williams also reiterated that the site would send out additional notifications to county residents when they expected the transformers to impact local traffic. 

The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2026.