We find it interesting that Buckingham County seems to be quickly becoming the energy capital of the Heart of Virginia.

Just last week we reported that about 5,000 of the estimated 66,000 solar panels have been installed at Dominion Energy’s Buckingham I Solar Facility — a nearly 200-acre project that has an estimated value of more than $35 million.

At the same time, the county board of supervisors Monday unanimously adopted a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would allow the county access and control of 200 acres along a proposed lateral line off of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).

The anticipated results of the two projects are quite staggering.

The solar facility on High Rock Road could produce about 40 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually, enough to power up to 4,500 homes, according to project developers. While the energy from the 20-megawatt facility will be acquired by Amazon’s cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services (AWS), those who live in the area will benefit from its presence.

The economic benefits from the gas tap could prove most advantageous.

The tap to the lateral line from the 42-inch ACP, Buckingham County Attorney E.M. Wright said in November, would carry enough capacity “to handle the needs of Kyanite, plus maybe three to four companies the size of Kyanite.”

The firm is the world’s largest producer of the industrial minerals kyanite and mullite.

We applaud the developers involved in these projects for not only bringing diverse, clean, renewable and safe independent energy to consumers in Buckingham, but more so for the investments these entities have made which we think will propel economic development and growth for Buckingham and the Heart of Virginia.

We also commend the county for working to capture this new, clean energy.