A Look At Solar Projects In The County
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DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
There have been questions circulating in Water Valley about the proposed construction of a micro-solar farm. With questions come speculation so I thought we could revisit the project.
In May, Water Valley aldermen voted unanimously to execute an agreement with Renewvia Energy Corporation to build a solar micro farm on city property. According to the company’s website, Renewvia is a top 500 Global Solar Developer headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. The company designs, installs owns and operates commercial and community solar power systems across multiple continents.
Part of the agreement executed by aldermen will allow the city to purchase electricity from the solar farm at a reduced rate, making it less expensive than the rate the city currently pays for electricity from Tennessee Valley Authority. According to the details shared in that May meeting, the city is expected to save over $100,000 annually. The city, county and school will also benefit from taxes paid on the infrastructure.
The deal comes after the city applied through the USDA’s PACE (Powering Affordable Clean Energy) program for funding that will incentivize the cost of the solar installation. The PACE programs allows small, rural communities to partner with a solar company to build small solar farms. The incentive for Renewvia for this investment is 20 percent loan forgiveness for the project after it is completed.
The size of the micro farm is a little over 10 acres, including three acres of county-owned property the city agreed to purchase for $30,000. The county acreage is located adjacent to the Yalobusha County Detention Center, and joins the city-owned property at the proposed site.
The next step for this project is completing environmental reviews, which is underway. The details for this project were discussed during multiple city meetings. The meetings are open to the public and held the first Tuesday of each month at city hall at 6:30 p.m. Obviously everyone can’t make it to these meetings and I try to cover the highlights in the Herald each month. If you are interested in watching, Bobby Murphree records the monthly meetings and posts them on YouTube.
County officials are also working on a much larger solar project near I-55 south of Oakland with Renewvia. The company secured an option on a large tract of privately owned land a little over a year ago. Renewvia also secured a lease-option on 150 acres from the Coffeeville School last December. The 16th Section, school-owned land joins the private tract that Renewvia has an option on from the private landowner. There are still a lot of steps ahead, but if this project becomes a reality the school district will receive a hefty lease payment annually for 35 years.
In recent months, there have been discussions about expanding this project to include more acreage from other adjacent landowners.
Similar solar projects are popping up all over the state, two of three planned solar projects in neighboring Panola County are already online and the third one will be by the end of the year. The larger solar facilities typically involve a substantial investment, a hundred million-plus dollars, and the companies who own them will become significant, long-term taxpayers to the county where they are located.
This tax money helps fund schools, roads and bridges, and other services provided by local government.
