The Flat Creek Solar ORES permit has officially been relinquished: here’s why.

In a shocking turn of events, the final siting permit that was awarded to Flat Creek Solar LLC was relinquished by Pattern Energy Group on September 15, 2026. Here is why.

Covering the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) in New York State has been a depressing pursuit for the last 12 months. There is hardly ever any good news that spills out of this shadow bureaucratic agency, which was given the legal power to supersede our home rule, local zoning laws, and environmental regulations.

But cheers erupted from Amish households yesterday when news spread across Upstate New York that, for the first time since ORES was created, a major energy developer had relinquished its final siting permit.

Flat Creek Solar, sited in the towns of Canajoharie and Root in Montgomery County, New York, is no more. Flat Creek Solar NY LLC had its law firm, Young/Sommer, issue a statement yesterday stating:

“Flat Creek does not intend to pursue its rights under the Siting Permit and therefore, we are notifying you that Flat Creek hereby relinquishes the Flat Creek Solar Project, without prejudice.”

The notice goes on to say:

“Flat Creek previously deposited with the Office a $300,000.00 local agency account fund fee as required by 16 NYCRR § 1100-1.5(a). The Applicant further requests that all local agency account funding amounts unspent as of the date of this letter be refunded to Flat Creek.”

I had previously covered Flat Creek Solar here and the impacts it was going to have not only on the Amish community that built my farm, but also on the bald eagles that nest along the Mohawk River. You can read that coverage here.

Montgomery County did not just sit there and take this level of domination over its lands. The county itself, through a lawsuit filed by Meghan Manion, as well as the Towns of Root and Canajoharie and Residents for the Preservation of the Mohawk Valley, challenged New York State over the siting of Flat Creek Solar. The Amish communities and their expert Anabaptist study, uploaded to the Department of Public Service (DPS) Flat Creek Solar docket, were ignored.

Individuals attempted to upload GPS coordinates and photos of eagle nests within the project bounds. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) ignored reports of eagles and redacted submissions that made it through the bureaucratic blockade.

I drove out to the Flat Creek Solar project site at the end of March 2026 to document the eagles myself. Here is one of my photos.

The eagles were spotted adjacent to nests that fell within the project boundaries.

The landowners, the county, the eagles, and the Amish meant nothing to ORES or to the foreign renewable energy developer, Canadian-owned Cordelio Power, at the time. That should tell you this project fell apart because of one thing… and one thing only: money.

From company acquisitions to unpaid rent

The primary landowner that leased land to Flat Creek Solar filed a lawsuit against Pattern Energy Group, the company that acquired Cordelio Power, on August 18, 2026.

Here is the series of events that led to Pank Holdings Co., Inc., Currytown Ag, LLC, and Renate A. Pank suing the companies involved with the project to which they had leased approximately 2,179.2 acres, according to their legal petition.

The lawsuit says the original solar ground lease dates to April 1, 2020. SunEast/Flat Creek Solar was the tenant. Cordelio later acquired the Flat Creek project, and in February 2025, Cordelio allegedly gave the landowners a written assurance that there would be “no change” to their agreement and that all commitments, including payments, would continue to be honored by Cordelio.

According to the plaintiffs’ interpretation of the lease, the six-year Development Period ended on April 1, 2026… but that did not end the lease. Instead, they argue, the lease automatically rolled into its Construction Period.

That triggered a much higher rent.

The rent increased to $1,000 per acre per year. On 2,179.2 acres, the plaintiffs calculate that Flat Creek owed them $2,179,200 by April 15, 2026.

The timing of this lines up with Pattern Energy Group’s acquisition of Cordelio Power.

Pattern allegedly completed its acquisition of Cordelio around April 1, 2026, which is the same date the Development Period expired. The complaint alleges that Pattern acquired Cordelio’s operating portfolio, most of the relevant U.S. development pipeline, personnel, goodwill, and ongoing business.

On August 14, 2026, the plaintiffs received a letter titled “Confirmation of Lease Expiration,” signed by Christopher Hind. According to the complaint, that letter claimed the lease had expired on April 1 and that no additional rent was owed.

The landowners say that is wrong because the end of the Development Period was not the same thing as the end of the Lease Term.

The plaintiffs are now suing Cordelio Power, Pattern Energy Group, and related entities, asserting breach of lease, breach of Cordelio’s written undertaking, promissory estoppel, unjust enrichment, declaratory judgment, successor liability, tortious interference, and a potentially voidable transaction.

Here is a screenshot that I received from the Flat Creek Solar contract, which is one of the most one-sided, predatory corporate documents I have ever reviewed.

As of this morning, I have emailed Pattern Energy Group requesting comment. I also called Matt Dallas, who is listed as a media relations contact for the company. Like all of the solar companies I call, Matt’s number went straight to voicemail.

Pattern Energy Group also lists a New York City address at 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036. The address appears to correspond to non-descript office space… another usual tactic.

Additionally, as of today, Pattern Energy Group’s majority shareholder is CPP Investments: the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

Yes, you are reading that correctly. The money that Pattern Energy Group stood to earn in the form of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from NYSERDA (New York State Energy and Research Development Authority) over the course of its lifetime would be going to the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.

As of 2025, NYSERDA released that they committed $504,210,028 to Flat Creek Solar NY LLC.

The perfect storm

While the contracts and money were breaking down between the landowners and Pattern Energy Group, as mentioned above, Montgomery County and other local parties were challenging the permit through four separate lawsuits.

At the same time, on August 26, 2026, the White House issued an Executive Order that specifically included “utility-scale and other grid-connected inverters” within its definition of bulk-power-system electric equipment.

The order authorized the Department of Energy (DOE) to prohibit the acquisition, importation, transfer, or installation of foreign-produced equipment when it has the specified connection to a Covered Foreign Entity and DOE determines that it poses an undue or unacceptable national-security or grid-security risk. The order also gives DOE authority to impose conditions on certain foreign-manufactured or operated equipment acquired or installed before the order was issued.

Since everything revolves around money for these foreign renewable corporations, in a DOE waiver published this summer, DOE described a situation where suitable domestically compliant inverter alternatives weren't available and redesigning around compliant equipment could add costs and potentially delay projects. Additionally, there is an open comment period through the DOE, accessed here, ending October 9th, 2026, where the DOE states they are:

“seeking information from industry and other stakeholders to inform DOE actions to implement the Executive order. Specifically, DOE seeks information regarding the scope of covered equipment and transactions; risks associated with Covered Foreign Entities and foreign-produced bulk-power system electric equipment; supply chain, software, firmware, digital service, maintenance service, and remote-access practices; existing equipment and potential mitigation; licensing and prequalification; domestic manufacturing and secure replacement capacity; Federal procurement; and potential economic, reliability, safety, and small-entity impacts.”

And finally, I am sure my constant, relentless coverage of these sham foreign solar and wind companies, preying on American farmland, animals, and water sources, shared with you all on here, Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube adds a lot of fuel to the fire.

The Albany media won’t report on the corporate pillaging happening to our rural New York towns. I vowed one-year ago this month that I’d step up to fill that gap.

Special shout-outs are in order for the official relinquishment of the Flat Creek Solar final siting permit:

• Meghan Manion, the Montgomery County attorney for defending her county in a way no other county attorney has in New York State

• Mike Muhlebeck, Montgomery County Legislator 3 for being outspoken on this for years and moving the needle

• Claude Pietrowicz, Jennifer Stein, and Sue Mallery for being the citizen activists that every town would be proud to know, as well as the people behind Residents for the Preservation of the Mohawk Valley

• Steve Helmin, Town of Glen Supervisor, and Jennifer Mete-Jeffer for sharing critical information and research that makes all of this possible

Momentum is a real thing. There are 49 other communities being held hostage by ORES across New York State. As you all know, I won’t rest until the grasslands and endangered species at Fort Edward Solar are freed. And I won’t rest until ORES is totally and completely dissolved.

We have our work cut out for us. But with this group of people on the scene, I imagine New York State and the international renewable energy lobby didn’t picture a bunch of ragtag Upstate New Yorkers deciding enough is enough!

I will end with this: the Amish of Canajoharie are so ecstatic that their community has been spared that they were texting champagne bottle emojis last night. Yes, this Amish order has TracFones for work.

Pop a bottle wherever you are today in honor of the patriots in Canajoharie, New York. The battle continues.

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