The map above shows the area of the Skycrest Solar facility that has been proposed by Chicago-based sustainable energy company Invenergy. Jay County Council on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for a tax abatement for the $150-million project.?The company hopes to have the facility operation beginning in 2024. (Graphic provided)
The map above shows the area of the Skycrest Solar facility that has been proposed by Chicago-based sustainable energy company Invenergy. Jay County Council on Wednesday gave preliminary approval for a tax abatement for the $150-million project.?The company hopes to have the facility operation beginning in 2024. (Graphic provided)
The county’s first solar project continues to move forward.

Jay County Council signed a preliminary tax abatement Wednesday with sustainable energy company Invenergy for its proposed Skycrest Solar facility.

More legislation, including a final tax abatement, is expected in the coming months.

Invenergy, a global firm with headquarters in Chicago, is planning a $150 million, 155-megawatt facility located on about 2,500 acres in Penn and Jackson Townships. Construction is expected to be completed by 2024.

Invenergy will save about $5.8 million in property taxes with the proposed abatement. Once the abatement has expired, the county will be looking at nearly $50 million in new assessed value and reduce tax rates around the county, explained Baker Tilly Municipal Advisors representative Jason Semler.

By Indiana law, the two-step process for tax abatement also requires a final agreement to be signed after a public hearing, explained project attorney Mary Solada.

“I view this as an application for abatement,” said Solada, who was involved with NextEra Energy Resources and Scout Clean Energy on their wind farm projects in Jay County.

She noted that the project will provide two full-time jobs with an average salary of $52,000. There will also be construction jobs –– for which Solada said Invenergy will seek to hire locally –– for the expected year-long construction of the facility.

Solada mentioned some benefits to a solar facility, stating that panels are quiet and don’t produce light in the dark, unlike local complaints with wind turbines.

Jay County Commissioners signed road use and decommissioning agreements with Invenergy on March 22. An economic development agreement is targeted to be complete by July 5. (The process has been paused while waiting on pending legislation at the Indiana General Assembly which may require changes to such an agreement.)

Semler also reminded council members about some of the county tax benefits that would from the project. The increased assessed value will result in reduced tax rates throughout the county.

He estimated the county’s cumulative capital improvement fund will increase each year, and once the abatement is finished, the county should expect an additional $16,400 each year.
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