Boozman, Hill Request Investigation into Little Rock VA Solar Panels Activation Failure

Press Release

U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) and Congressman French Hill (AR-02) urged the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General (VAIOG) to evaluate the planning process for renewable energy programs, like the solar panels at the Little Rock Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), to ensure these taxpayer funded projects are able to work once constructed.

Little Rock's VAMC received an $8 million grant to the build solar panels, but since construction was completed in 2013, they were never activated because they were not compatible with the local electricity grid.

"We have a number of concerns with this project. First, it appears that there was a significant lack of planning and due diligence on the part of VA by installing a solar photovoltaic system that was incompatible with the local electricity grid. Second, we do not understand why VA would proceed with a construction project that was knowingly in conflict with another pending construction project," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the VAIOG.

Boozman and Hill are aggressively using their authority to provide oversight and requested that the inspector general recommend any legislative and regulatory changes that Congress can make to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

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