ENID, Okla. — The Garfield County Commission on MondayApril 29, 2024, focus on an up to date roads settlement for the Skeleton Creek photo voltaic power and batter storage mission southeast of Enid.
Commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. Monday on the courthouse to assessment plans from NextEra Energy, developer of the large mission, which will likely be situated in a rural space south of Enid Woodring Regional Airport and northwest of Pioneer. High School.
The builders of the photo voltaic mission are anticipated to current “a couple of highway use adjustments,†mentioned Reese Wedel, chairman of the fee. The county board beforehand authorized a highway use settlement for the development of the power complicated, which has photo voltaic panel and battery websites unfold over elements of an eight sq. kilometer space. The photo voltaic panels will cowl about 2,200 hectares of the 5,100 hectares of the goal space.
This is without doubt one of the few occasions {that a} vote was taken associated to the photo voltaic mission, which generated sturdy opposition from some residents of the goal space. Some landowners throughout the power complicated footprint have voluntarily signed lease agreements with NextEra.
Nearly 100 individuals attended a Garfield County Commission assembly in October 2023 on the photo voltaic mission, however no formal motion was taken.
Emotional feedback in opposition to the photo voltaic mission had been introduced throughout public remark sections at a number of Enid City Commission conferences, however metropolis officers mentioned no vote or formal assessment is deliberate for the photo voltaic power heart. , which is outdoors the town limits of Enid and at the very least 4. miles east of Vance Air Force Base. Critics questioned the impression on close by property values, the potential for environmental harm, the chance of preventing fires with the big batteries, and the logic of getting greater than three sq. miles of reflective photo voltaic panels. which is situated very near Woodring and Vance.
Project proponents addressed security and property worth points and touted the advantages to the Enid space.
“The mission is predicted to generate $65 million in extra tax income for Garfield County,†mentioned Christopher Banks, NextEra mission supervisor for the Skeleton Creek Energy Center. “Local faculties, roads and important providers will all profit.â€
Construction is deliberate to start this summer season.
“The photo voltaic farm mission south of the town doesn’t require any allow from the town,†City Manager Jerald Gilbert confirmed this week.
“The authority of the town to assessment web site plan approvals, challenge constructing permits, conduct inspections and decide zoning is restricted to the town limits,†defined the town of Enid in formal assertion final month.
The metropolis and county governments collectively appoint members to the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission, however the metropolis lawyer dominated final 12 months that the MAPC doesn’t have the authority to conduct a proper “Use by Review†course of for land that’s -agricultural zone outdoors the town limits.
Oklahoma state officers additionally indicated an absence of authority to assessment the power mission, which is Oklahoma’s largest photo voltaic and battery mission.
“We do not regulate energy technology,†mentioned Matt Skinner, spokesman for the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. He described NextEra’s plans as “a massive facility,†which the OCC oversees however doesn’t regulate. When it involves batteries and photo voltaic, “we haven’t any jurisdiction,†he defined.
Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality Communications Director Erin Hatfield mentioned her state company has no function within the “clear power” mission as a result of it doesn’t launch emissions into the air or discharge wastewater.
An environmental impression assertion for the mission particulars the various critiques wanted to adjust to federal rules.
The metropolis of Enid has compiled and posted on-line in depth data on the proposed Skeleton Creek Energy Center at www.enid.org/skeletoncreeksolar.
Garfield County will want two extra permits — along with the highway use upkeep and restore settlement, Wedel mentioned. Because the mission space contains Skeleton Creek, a floodplain allow is required. Also, the county requires a business use software.
The province doesn’t require or challenge constructing permits or building permits, mentioned Wedel.
