Jefferson County, WV (2026 Oct 8) — Rippon Energy Facility LLC, the subsidiary of Torch Clean Energy that is developing an industrial scale solar facility in southern Jefferson County, has filed an update to its stormwater construction permit application (WVR113220).
The company had received a stormwater construction permit for phase one of the project earlier this year, covering just under 100 acres of the project site. The updated application covers the entire 589 acres of the project, which sits on three separate sites between the village of Rippon and the Shenandoah River (image above). The project is rated at 90 megawatts.
The Stormwater Protection Plan document for this project was provided to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WV DEP) on October 2. According to WV DEP representatives, the department is currently reviewing the 1,000+ pages of the plan and will likely request additional information from the company before it opens up the permit for public comment.
The Observer will provide updates as this project progresses through the permitting process.
>>>Read more of The Observer’s coverage of solar in Jefferson County…
Published 2026 Oct 8 in the Observer Weekly.
By Steve Pearson