By Allison T. Williams

Special to the Suffolk News-Herald

Generations of Jimmy Oliver’s family have planted and harvested crops ­— cotton, corn and the like — from the fertile farmland off Longview and Woodland drives, in Isle of Wight County, for decades.

Since December, the cash crop of choice is electricity.

In late 2015, Oliver leased roughly 200 acres of his family farm to Dominion Virginia Power for the company’s Woodland Solar Farm, according to Dominion Power spokeswoman Daisy Pridgen.

During the past year, a Georgia-based contractor, Amec Foster Wheeler, hired 160 employees, including­ electricians, heavy equipment operators, carpenters and skilled laborers, to install nearly 80,000 commercial-sized solar panels across the rural property, said Pridgen. The jobs were temporary, with almost all filled by local workers, she added.

A $44-million project that ramped up operation in December, Woodland Solar Farm produces approximately 19 megawatts of electricity at peak production, Pridgen said. That’s enough electricity to power about 5,000 homes, she said.

Together, Woodland and Dominion’s two other new solar farms, Scott and Whitehouse, in Powhatan and Louisa counties, respectively, generate 56 megawatts of power, Pridgen said. The three solar farms, which are Dominion’s first in Virginia, produce enough electricity for 14,000 homes during peak production.

Even with newly-inaugurated President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to revitalize the hard-hit coal industry and put miners back to work, Dominion Virginia Power is committed to green energy, Pidgin said.

“We are going to continue to invest in renewable energy,” Pridgen said. “We feel like it is important for us to have a variety to fuel sources available, including wind and solar.”

In February 2015, Dominion announced plans to invest in a variety of renewable energy projects in Virginia totaling 400 megawatts of electricity through 2020.

To date, the three solar farms are among three renewable energy projects in 12 localities that are producing 391 megawatts in renewable energy in the state, she said. Other solar projects are in the works at Oceana and Sussex County.

“Dominion is definitely on the right track, and we are serious about green energy,” Pridgen said. “Solar energy is an important energy source for the future, and it’s an important factor in bringing new businesses to Virginia.”