Court authorizes agreement for 4th solar farm project

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  • The Bright Arrow solar project is located in the northwestern part of Hopkins County and is wholly within SSISD, according to maps on the Texas Comptroller's website. This was compiled and labeled by staff. Courtesy/Bright Arrow, LLC
    The Bright Arrow solar project is located in the northwestern part of Hopkins County and is wholly within SSISD, according to maps on the Texas Comptroller's website. This was compiled and labeled by staff. Courtesy/Bright Arrow, LLC
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Dike residents continue to repeat concerns

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The Hopkins County Commissioners Court gave the go-ahead Monday for a $275 million solar development in the northwestern part of the county as some Dike residents questioned a similar project in their community.

“Your job is to provide a safe place for Hopkins County residents and your own employees such as safe buildings and facilities in the county,” Michelle Barns said. “Yet I don’t understand where for the residents of Dike is, which is within Hopkins County, by allowing a solar power plant to be built.”

Cynthia Martin with Save Dike from Solar, presented a list of questions about project ranging from equipment details, fencing locations, property damage liability and assessments. Tony Bullard, a landowner near the project, expressed his support for the project, saying the revenue brought in by the project could better maintain county infrastructure.

“You all do a thankless job,” Bullard said. “It doesn’t matter if you do this road, it’s the wrong one. If you did that road, it’s the wrong one. I appreciate spending our tax dollars the way they’re supposed to be spent.” The Dike solar project

The Dike solar project is a 250-megawatt (MW) solar farm stretching across 1,800 acres. The original size was 300-MW across about 3,000 acres with first proposed in June 2019, but the developer, ENGIE, has since downsized it. It was given approval by the county, Sulphur Springs ISD and Sulphur Bluff ISD in December 2019. Construction is expected to start this summer, according to ENGIE representative Ryan Economy.

While the Dike project was among the first to be proposed, the Bright Arrow solar development is the fourth such project, and its scale is the similar to the Dike project. The Bright Arrow project is slated to be a 300-MW solar farm sitting on roughly 3,000 acres of land, according to Texas Comptroller documents. The total investment is put at $275 million, meaning a great deal of tax revenue for the county and Sulphur Springs ISD, in which the project lies.

“This is the one located off Highway 11 out in the northwest part of the county,” Hopkins County-Sulphur Springs EDC Executive Director Roger Feagley said. “It’s a $275 million project, and I think the income would be $360,000 per year.”

The 381 agreement offered by the county to the solar developer RWE Renewables LLC, an international renewable energy corporation with a portfolio in both wind and solar, is the industry standard, Feagley said. Tougher negotiations would have likely resulted in the developers moving on to more agreeable locations, he added.

No public comments addressed the Bright Arrow project, and the court authorized the county judge to enter the county into a 381 tax value agreement related to the project.

Coverage of the rest of the Monday commissioners court will be published in the Saturday, April 17 edition of the News-Telegram.