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Superintendent David Stickels reports on a land agreement drawn up by the district as board member Chip Tully scans the document. Earlier in the meeting, the board accepted an application for a value limitation agreement for the Stampede Solar project. Staff photo by Todd Kleiboer
Project worth estimated $192 million to district
The first step toward a potential fifth solar farm inside Hopkins County was made by the Saltillo ISD board Thursday night as they accepted the application for a value limitation agreement from Stampede Solar LLC.
“Accepting the application means nothing other than, ‘Hey, we’re willing to take a look and see whether or not we’re interested in the process,” Rick Lambert, the school’s legal counsel with Powell, Youngblood and Taylor, said, adding there’s no solid commitment yet.
The application will be sent to the Texas Comptroller’s Office who will perform an analysis of any financial impact on the district. An independent entity, likely Region 10, will do another analysis to confirm those findings. Lambert said the agreement should be ready for board approval around July.
“It’s only at that point when you’re bound by anything,” Lambert said.
Saltillo ISD’s portion of the Stampede Solar project is worth $192.8 million, stretches over 1,300 acres inside Hopkins County and will produce 200 megawatts of power. The other portion lies within Mount Vernon ISD. The developer Enel Green Power is involved with the project and has an extensive portfolio in both wind and solar farms, including some in Texas.
“They plan to start construction in the beginning of 2022, and that will involve 150 full-time [temporary] construction jobs,” Shelly Leung, economic development director at PT&Y, said.
According to developer representatives at the meeting, seven to nine permanent jobs will be created post-construction, but a job waiver will still be needed because Comptroller guidelines require 10 jobs. For most solar farms, only two jobs are created, according to other applications.
“All of these applications are posted online,” Enel representative Alfonso Reyes said. “Sometimes we’ll go and do a comparative analysis just to see where we are. It’s great to see that we typically do more.”
Another representative said the company creates a maintenance job for every 30 megawatts. Board member Randy Johnson asked if any local residents would be hired for the permanent jobs, and the representative said while a site manager might be brought in, the other jobs would be locally sourced.
The value limitation would hold the project’s taxable value at $15 million for 10 years, and if approved, the agreement would start in January 2024 after construction is completed, according to Leung. The agreement also requires the company to “maintain a viable presence” for five years after the limitation ends, so in essence, the agreement is effective for 15 years.
Enel will also provide supplemental payments of $50,000 per year during the agreement on top of the taxable value the school will collect revenue on. That equates to an extra $750,000 over 15 years.
More details as to the location and possible savings for the Stampede Solar project will be made available once the application is posted online.