Stephens County to hold Monday, Feb. 23, public hearing on solar farm; windfarm agreement amendment also on agenda
By Carla McKeown and Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan
The Stephens County Commissioners Court will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23, about a proposed solar farm in the central portion of the county, as well as a discussion during the regular meeting about an amendment to the Nextera windfarm agreement. The public hearing and meeting will be held in the Stephens County Annex Building, located at 222 N. Baylor Ave., across from the Stephens County Law Enforcement Center.
Public Hearing
The public hearing is being held for the commissioners to receive comments from the public about the proposed creation of a reinvestment zone for Crocus Solar, LLC, which is owned by Samsung Renewable Energy. Members of the public may speak and present evidence for or against the proposed reinvestment zone. Each citizen may speak for up to five minutes in the public hearing portion of the agenda. All other comments on the regular agenda items or public comments period during the regular agenda items will be limited to two minutes per participant.
Generally speaking, a reinvestment zone is a geographical area within the county that allows the commissioners court to offer tax abatements in that specific area.
In December, the commissioners approved an application by Crocus to initiate the tax abatement discussion. The approval of the application did not obligate the county to offer a tax abatement but opened up the opportunity to discuss it.
The reinvestment zone must be approved before the tax abatement can be considered. If the reinvestment zone is approved, there will be another public hearing at a later date to receive input from the public regarding the tax abatement.
Following the public hearing on Monday, the commissioners will consider the adoption and designation of the Crocus Solar Reinvestment Zone #1 under Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code.
According to the public hearing notice, Crocus Solar anticipates constructing a 100-megawatt utility-scale single-axis tracker photovoltaic facility designed to use solar power to generate electricity, as well as a co-located Battery Energy Storage System component with an estimated storage capacity of 100-megawatt hours (50 MW 2 Hour batteries).
The investments would include the following: solar modules/panels, metal mounting system with tracking capabilities, battery or battery system, underground conduit, communications cables and electric system wiring, combiner boxes, a project substation including breakers, a transformer and meters, overhead transmission lines, inverter boxes on concrete pads, an operations and maintenance facility, fencing for safety and security, telephone and internet communication system, meteorological equipment to measure solar irradiation and weather conditions, and any other eligible ancillary and necessary equipment for commercial operations of the proposed project.
The estimated capital investment for improvements subject to the requested tax abatement is $130 million.
The proposed reinvestment zone consists of approximately 885 acres in Stephens County. The land includes five parcels identified in the notice by parcel ID and survey abstract and located in the central portion of the county just south of U.S. Highway 180 East and east of FM 207.
A map of the proposed Crocus Solar Reinvestment Zone #1 is included in the public hearing notice — click here to see the notice and map. Additionally, a copy of the map is available for viewing at the office of Stephens County Judge Michael Roach. Questions regarding the proposed designation may be directed to the judge’s office at 254-559-2190.
Nextera Agreement Amendment
In addition to the public hearing and vote on the solar farm reinvestment zone, the Stephens County Commissioners will consider approving an advertisement for a public hearing regarding an amendment to the Nextera tax abatement, as well as consider the as-built map and letter of compliance for the La Casa Wind, LLC wind energy project developed by Nextera, confirming the final installed project capacity of 150 mw.
The latter item regarding the map and letter of compliance was discussed at the Feb. 9 meeting, but it was tabled in order to get clarification on some issues brought up by Stephens County resident Steve Dempsey.
The amendment to the agreement between the county and Nextera concerns changes to the original road use agreement. However, before the county commissioners will consider the amendment, they will hold a public hearing to ensure transparency and to gather public input, County Judge Michael Roach said.
The original agreement was for Nextera to maintain and repair any roads they use in the process of installing and maintaining the wind turbine farm located in the southeast quadrant of the county. However, Nextera is proposing to buy out the agreement for an additional $750,000, Precinct 1 Commissioner David Fambro said.
With the amendment, Nextera would pay the county $750,000 and the county would then be responsible for maintaining the roads.
During Monday’s meeting, the public will be allowed to address the Nextera amendment during that portion of the agenda. Speakers will be limited to two minutes each on that topic or any other topic on the agenda that they wish to speak about.
Cutline, top photo: The red outlines on the map pictured above show the location of a proposed 885-acre solar farm in central Stephens County. (Image courtesy of Samsung Renewable Energy)
