Solar energy coming to St. Croix County, Cylon and Warren Twps.
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
HUDSON — Solar energy will soon be on the landscape in St. Croix County with one solar installation that will cover about one square mile with solar panels, while another similar project also is being proposed.
The St. Croix County Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a conditional use permit for St. Croix Valley Solar LLC for a 99 megawatt solar installation with a 680-acre footprint in the Towns of Warren and Richmond December 3.
The second solar installation, planned by Northern Prairie Solar in the Town of Cylon, would cover 974 acres and would produce 101.2 megawatts of electricity.
Because the Northern Prairie Solar project is over 100 megawatts, the project will fall under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
“St. Croix County has not had a solar energy project of this size before, although the county may see more now,” said Mike Wozniak, St. Croix County land use administrator, during the Board of Adjustment’s public hearing on December 2 for the St. Croix Valley Solar project.
The St. Croix County Zoning Board of Adjustment held the public hearing for the project proposed by St. Croix Valley Solar on December 2, and then during a second meeting the next day, deliberated on the application for a conditional use permit and ultimately unanimously approved the permit.
Zoning
The acreage in the Towns of Warren and Richmond is zoned Residential 1 and Residential 2, and it is primarily farm land and pasture land, Wozniak said.
Solar installations are allowed in all zoning districts in St. Croix County with a conditional use permit, he said.
The St. Croix Valley Solar project will deliver power through the existing Three Lakes Substation owned by Xcel Energy, according to information posted on the St. Croix County website.
St. Croix County received letters from the Warren Town Board and the Richmond Town Board that were both supportive of the project and recommended approval.
Five property owners have signed leases for the solar panel installation, Wozniak said at the public hearing, noting that there are few environmentally sensitive areas in the 981 acres that will be in the project.
St. Croix Valley Solar has submitted an extensive and organized application packet, and county staff members met with representatives for the company over many months, both in virtual and in-person meetings, Wozniak said.
The project will wrap around the existing Xcel substation. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has reviewed the plan for the impact on navigable waters and wetlands, and there are no issues with the project design, he said.
The solar installation will create wildlife habitat with pollinator seed mixes and some woody vegetation, Wozniak said.
Construction will take 12 to 24 months, and in a “best case scenario” would begin this fall and be in service next year, although it is more likely construction would start in 2024, he said.
Preference
State law gives preference for solar and wind energy systems, although more detail has been developed for wind energy, said Scott Cox, St. Croix County corporation counsel, at the December 2 meeting.
Cox has since retired as corporation counsel for the county.
The Board of Adjustment can only improve restrictions based on public health or safety concerns, and cannot “make up” issues of concern, Cox said.
The state has given preference to renewable energy, and conditions can only address health and safety, he said.
Avangrid
St. Croix Valley Solar LLC is a subsidiary of Avangrid Renewables, which has projects in 22 states, said Tim Seck, project manager, during the public hearing.
Avangrid, which has 7,000 employees and three million customers, has sold electricity to a number of utilities in Wisconsin, including Dairyland Power and Xcel, he said, adding that the project in the Towns of Warren and Richmond would be Avangrid’s first project in Wisconsin.
The project will provide annual shared revenue payments to local units of government, with two-thirds going to St. Croix County and the Towns of Warren and Richmond each receiving between $60,000 and $70,000 annually, Seck said.
The solar project will provide energy for 16,000 homes, representing a significant impact on the electricity available since Xcel Energy is closing down a coal fired plant in Bayport in 2026, he said.
“We are excited about this project and to be a good partner in the community,” Seck said.
Public comment
Only one St. Croix County resident spoke during the public hearing.
Lee Brown, a member of the St. Joseph Plan Commission, did not speak for or against the project, but rather, to say he objected to two-thirds of the annual shared revenue payment going to the county when it should be the other way around, with two-thirds going to the towns.
Brown said he wanted to know why the county would be receiving two-thirds of the money.
The answer from the Board of Adjustment is that state law requires two-thirds of the shared revenue money to go to the county with the remaining one-third going to the township(s).
According to information from the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, shared revenue payments are $2,000 per megawatt, with one-third going to the township and two-thirds going to the county.
For projects that are located in villages or cities, the village or city receives two-thirds of the shared revenue payment, and the county receives one-third.
Anyone wishing to find out more information about the St. Croix Valley Solar project in the Towns of Warren and Richmond can visit the St. Croix County website. Go to the meeting portal, scroll down to past meetings, click on “see more,” find the meetings for 2021, and look for the Board of Adjustment’s December 2 and December 3, 2021, meetings.
Videos of the meetings are available, along with the packet of information provided for the Board of Adjustment, which includes all of the documents submitted for St. Croix County Solar’s application for a conditional use permit.
Northern Prairie Solar
Northern Prairie Solar is proposing a 101.2 megawatt project on 974 acres in the Town of Cylon east of the City of New Richmond.
Northern Prairie Solar is in the beginning stages of putting together an application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.
So far, a 28-page pre-engineering plan that was submitted to the DNR has been posted under the docket number 9815-CE-100 on the PSC’s website.
Northern Prairie Solar is an indirect subsidiary of Leeward Renewable Energy.
Leeward had purchased the Highland Wind Farm project next door to the Town of Cylon in the Town of Forest.
Leeward Renewable Energy, based out of Dallas, Texas, sent a letter dated November 12, 2021, to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, saying that the Highland Wind Farm project has been cancelled.
The proposed 102.5 megawatt project in the Town of Forest would have had 41 wind turbines.
Emerging Energies began developing the proposal for Highland Wind Farm in 2008, and some years later, sold the proposal to Leeward Renewable Energy.
Bill Rakocy of Emerging Energies spoke to the Cylon Town Board January 11, 2012, about a proposed substation for the wind turbines that would be located in the Town of Cylon one mile west of state Highway 63 and north of county Highway H.
Representatives for Leeward/Northern Prairie Solar made a presentation to the Cylon Town Board on the proposed solar installation January 12, 2022.
Information about the presentation is available on the Town of Cylon’s website.
Additional information is available on Northern Prairie Solar’s website at www.northernprairiesolar.com.
According to the Northern Prairie Solar website, planning and permitting for the project will be completed this year, with construction taking place in 2023-2024. The solar installation is expected to be operational in 2024.
