… California is grappling with two pressing issues: a shrinking water supply and the growing demand for clean, dependable energy. SGMA requires local agencies to balance groundwater use by 2040. Meanwhile, statewide power demand is expected to rise 80% by 2045. In response, AB 1156 would allow landowners to lease their farmland for solar panel installation. “This land is fallow this year. Obviously, as you can see in the background, we don’t have anything growing there — and that’s because of the SGMA regulations, along with quite a bit of other land that we have.” Mike Frey said. Mike Frey is a fifth-generation farmer in Buttonwillow. His family has been farming in Kern County since 1962, growing almonds, pistachios, cotton, wheat, corn, potatoes, and carrots. Now, he’s working to turn that fallow land into a solar farm.

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