Jenny McNeece, For The Sun-Commercial
The first-ever solar deal signed by county officials four years ago has experienced significant delays, representatives with the project told the county commissioners this week.
Nikki Jeffers, the director of development for Arevon Energy, a partner on the RATTS 2 solar project in Harrison Township, went before the commissioners during their regular meeting Tuesday, held at City Hall, 201 Vigo St., to seek an extension to the original Economic Development Agreement signed by county officials in 2020.
Also dubbed the Blue Jean project, Jeffers said construction has been on hold due to supply chain issues. The EDA is set to expire at the end of 2024, hence the request for an extension.
Too, Jeffers said partners are currently looking for a new “off-taker” for the project as delays have caused their initial agreement with Duke Energy to expire as well.
“We were unable to meet (the initial deadline) so they are no longer interested,” she told the commissioners.
That said, partners are hopeful to see things pick up pace. They are awaiting bids on two different kinds of panels, a fixed panel and one that can change positions with the sun, or a track panel.
With an extension to the EDA, which the commissioners did approve, and a contract in hand for the purchase of solar panels, Jeffers said she is confident they will soon have another off-taker on board.
“We have somebody that is interested, someone we’ve been talking to for awhile,” she said, “but with nothing yet official, I can’t say who it is.”
The amendment to the EDA is for a 2-year extension, and Jeffers said, if all goes to plan, they hope to have the project completed sometime in 2026.
The county’s Area Plan Commission also agreed to an extension but only for one year. Jeffers said they will go back before the APC next year to seek another extension to get them the two years they need to finish the project.
Commissioner Trent Hinkle said he was appreciate of the update. Often, he fields questions from residents wondering why the project isn’t yet taking shape.
“They’ll ask, ‘What happened to solar?’ and I just say, “Life happens,’ ” Hinkle said with a shrug.
Commission president Kellie Streeter also expressed concern for land owners. Many of them signed lease agreements that are now set to expire.
But Jeffers said they are in the process of sitting down with each land owner to discuss an extension to those lease agreements as well.
“That isn’t something that happens automatically,” she said. “We will sit down with each land owner and discuss if they want to extend.
“If they don’t want to continue, then that is their right.”
As a part of the EDA, the county council allowed for a ten-year tax abatement for the solar development partners, one that essentially forgives 100% of the personal and property taxes on any improvements made to the land. In return, $2.5 million was to be paid to the county in “economic development payments” over a six-year period.
The county, too, had expected to see additional tax benefits totaling some $16 million over the expected 35-year life of the RATTS 2 solar farm.
The county in 2019 began the process of drafting its own solar ordinance to help guide county officials — and solar developers — through the rather complicated zoning process. The RATTS 2 project was the first to be approved under those new guidelines, but it was not a process without contention.
The APC, after months of discussion and two public meetings, approved the solar plan in March of 2020, but dozens of local residents opposed it, many of them fearing for their property values and the possibility of pollution.
A handful of those residents, upset at the APC for approving the RATTS 2 project, sought a judicial review of the zoning body’s decision, but the project was allowed to go ahead.
The RATTS 2 project originally represented a $110 million capital investment as well as a handful of permanent jobs, and it required the lease or purchase of about 2,800 acres in Harrison Township.
Actual construction was proposed for just half that.