Coyote Creek Solar Project Shrinks Footprint by 20 Percent in Settlement Preserving 3,300 Mature Blue Oaks

Developers of the Sacramento Valley Energy Center have reached a formal legal settlement resolving a California Environmental Quality Act lawsuit by reducing the footprint of the Coyote Creek solar project near Folsom by approximately 20 percent. Announced on Friday and closely followed by environmental planning boards across San Francisco, Danville, and the East Bay, the binding agreement preserves roughly 3,300 mature blue oak trees across the historic Barton Ranch property. In addition to redesigning the photovoltaic array boundaries, the settlement establishes a permanent conservation easement on Barton Ranch to protect the preserved oak woodland acreage from any future development.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors had originally approved a sprawling 1,412-acre solar layout on the 2,704-acre Barton Ranch property in November 2025. Environmental documentation reviewed by botanical specialists at the California Native Plant Society revealed that the original project design would have required clear-cutting approximately 3,493 native blue oak trees, including heritage specimens estimated to be as old as 850 years. Conservation coalitions filed suit under CEQA to force a compact project redesign that avoids the densest groves of centuries-old trees.

Former Sacramento mayor and conservation advocate Heather Fargo told the Sacramento Bee that environmental groups strongly support clean energy transition goals when sited responsibly. Fargo explained that advocates wanted to see the solar energy produced and were not trying to reduce the number of solar panels, but rather were working to reduce the ecological impact on irreplaceable native woodlands. Engineered as a 200-megawatt photovoltaic solar farm paired with a 100-megawatt, four-hour battery storage system capable of banking 400 megawatt-hours of electricity, the facility will utilize higher-density panel configurations within its reduced footprint.

The project still faces commercial power-offtake adjustments after the Sacramento Municipal Utility District canceled its original power purchase agreement for Coyote Creek in January, citing supply chain constraints, rising equipment costs, schedule delays, environmental concerns, and pending litigation. Regional land-use commissioners in Contra Costa and Alameda counties noted that the Barton Ranch settlement provides a statewide blueprint for balancing utility-scale battery and solar infrastructure with oak woodland preservation across the Diablo Range and Tri-Valley foothills.

Environmental planners, renewable energy developers, and conservation supporters can review the CEQA settlement terms and botanical impact assessments online at cnps.org or through county planning department portals. Construction scheduling and updated utility interconnection reviews will proceed under the revised conservation boundaries in early 2027. Questions regarding native oak preservation programs across Northern California may be directed to the California Native Plant Society at (916) 447-2677.