Solunesco Solar Lawsuit Dismissed

CHARLOTTE CO. – On January 19 Judge Kimberly White dismissed all ten counts filed against SolUnesco, The Randolph Solar Project, Bill Devin,               and Charlotte County “with prejudice” which means   “the court intends for that dismissal to be final in all courts, and that res judicata should bar that claim from being reasserted in another court.”

The suit was filed by Faye Trent, individually and through her durable power of Attorney for Ruth Hansen Wilcox  who owns a property on Bailey Farm Road that was leased to Solunesco for the Randolph Solar Project. The defendants were Solunesco Holding Company, Francis Hodsoll individually, Sandra Ann Towns d/b/a Properties of Virginia and William Berkley Devin.

The suit alleged the “ Defendants knowingly, willfully, intentionally and wrongfully induced Ruth A.Hansen Wilcox (“Ms. Wilcox”), an elderly, incapacitated person diagnosed with dementia and memory impairment, to execute contracts whereby she agreed to provide an irrevocable option for the lease of her real property to Defendant SolUnesco Holding Company (“SolUnesco Holding”) and/or Defendant SolUnesco LLC and to apply for a conditional use permit to allow her property to be used in a proposed large scale solar industrial utility project known as the

Randolph Solar Project, to be located in Charlotte County, Virginia.

Defendants wrongfully induced Ms. Wilcox to execute the written contracts and the conditional use permit application only after they failed to induce Plaintiff Faye Trent (“Ms. Trent”), the holder of Ms. Wilcox’s Durable General Power of Attorney, to enter into such contracts on behalf of Ms. Wilcox. As well as 8 related issues.

All ten counts were dismissed with Prejudice.

A spokesman for Solunesco stated, “As we expected, Judge White found the lawsuit brought by Ms. Trent and her attorney, John Janson, to be completely baseless and dismissed all ten counts with prejudice. The judge halted Trent and Janson’s attempt to override the will of Charlotte County citizens. We are working on getting a final Order entered and will continue to advance the Randolph Solar project, bringing jobs, tax revenue, and future economic opportunities to Charlotte County.”