Dunn County Board approves developer’s agreement for Elk Creek Solar project
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Board has approved a developer’s agreement for the Elk Creek Solar Project.
Elk Creek Solar, which is owned by Tyr Energy Development Renewables, has applied to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin, said Nick Lange, Dunn County corporation counsel, at the Dunn County Board’s April 19 meeting.
A formal application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity was submitted to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in October 2022 to build a 300-megawatt solar generating facility with a 76.6 megawatt battery storage system on 2,500 acres in the Town of Spring Brook.
By state law, applying to the PSC means approval of the solar project is entirely on the state level and not under Dunn County’s jurisdiction. Dunn County zoning does not apply, and the developer’s agreement allows the county to maintain a small bit of control, Lange said.
The agreement approved by the Dunn County Board is a joint agreement between Elk Creek Solar, the Town of Spring Brook and the County of Dunn regarding the construction and operation of a photovoltaic electrical generating facility.
The joint developer’s agreement covers the use of county highways. Muddy Creek is on the western edge of the project and the agreement includes abiding by Dunn County’s shoreland-wetland ordinance where it is applicable, Lange said.
The agreement also covers access driveways, rights-of-way, the height of equipment, vegetation requirements, fencing, aesthetics and sound impacts, he said.
Payments
Annual payments in lieu of property taxes will include approximately $700,000 for the county and $500,000 for the Town of Spring Brook, Lange said.
Payments to the county and the township are included in state law.
Elk Creek Solar also has signed an agreement with the Elk Mound school district stating that the school district will receive $60,000 per year for 20 years.
The joint agreement is a way to protect the county’s infrastructure and a way to limit the county’s liability for risk, Lange said.
The agreement is what was “hammered out” over several meetings with Elk Creek Solar, he said.
The representatives for Elk Creek Solar have been accommodating in discussions and are good corporate citizens for Dunn County, said Kelly McCullough, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the Dunn County Board.
Backyard
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie, said Elk Creek Solar “will be in my backyard” and that it would be “kind of nice to see crops and cattle rather than solar panels.”
One person at a township meeting said the solar project was like Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acreage that produces electricity, he said, adding that he has had CRP land that produced red pines.
Bjork went on to say that he could not support Elk Creek Solar and that every time he has to see the solar panels, he wants to be able to say he did not support the project.
The developer’s agreement represents the county’s ability to shape some parameters of the project that Elk Creek Solar otherwise would not have to do by state law, Lange said.
“I am not in favor of being a neighbor,” Larry Bjork said.
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax, pointed out that he is a farmer and also is not in favor of Elk Creek Solar.
By voting for the developer’s agreement, that is saying “we approve it,” Gary Bjork said.
Ability to regulate
Voting in favor of the agreement means that county board supervisors are voting for the county’s ability to regulate the solar project in ways that are available, McCullough said.
If Elk Creek Solar wanted to install 75 driveways in a half mile, the agreement would not allow the company to do that, Lange said, adding that he was not suggesting Elk Creek Solar actually wants to install that many driveways in a half mile.
The developer’s agreement gives the county some control versus no control, said Gary Stene, county board supervisor from Colfax.
The shared revenue happens whether the agreement is signed or not, he said.
Lange confirmed that the payments are part of state law and not part of the developer’s agreement.
Why would the county not want to have a little input? asked Michael Rogers, county board supervisor from Menomonie.
The county has no ability to regulate a project under the PSC’s jurisdiction, and it is a contract that benefits all parties, Lange said.
By speaking out now at the county board meeting, Larry Bjork and Gary Bjork are establishing an important opinion that they are not in favor of the solar project, McCullough said.
During several meetings, officials from the Town of Spring Brook expressed the same sentiments that while they were not necessarily in favor of the project, the developer’s agreement gives town officials a way “to have our dog in the fight,” Lange said.
New construction
John Calabrese, county board supervisor from Menomonie, wondered if the solar panels would count as additional net new construction that could increase Dunn County’s property tax levy.
Probably not, since Elk Creek Solar is a utility and the property is taken off the tax roll as a utility, Lange said.
Sean Breslin, county board supervisor from Menomonie, wanted to know if the $700,000 annual payment to Dunn County is a flat fee or if it is based off the amount of electricity produced.
It is a flat fee that is based on the total installed capacity and not on the electricity produced, said Dylan Stickney, a representative for Elk Creek Solar.
When will Elk Creek Solar reach full production? Stene asked.
If the PSC approves Elk Creek Solar’s application this year, construction will start in 2024, and the solar array is expected to be completely on-line by the end of 2025, Stickney said.
Stene also wondered when Dunn County would receive the first $700,000 annual payment.
Sometime within the first year of production, Stickney said.
If Elk Creek Solar is completely online by September, for example, the payment would be pro-rated for one-third of a year of production for that first year, Lange said.
The Dunn County Board approved the agreement with Elk Creek Solar on a voice vote.
