With four other solar projects in the pipeline, a fifth multimillion dollar solar project is potentially heading to Hopkins County as Belltown Power has made moves to apply for development incentives within the county.
Most recently, the company, through BT Solterra Solar LLC, was approved for a reinvestment zone inside Hopkins County. The project will located northwest of Saltillo and will lie mostly between County Roads 3540 to the north and 3532 to the south. County Road 3536 lies east of the proposed project boundaries. At the commissioners court meeting Nov. 22, the project will be split between the property of Chip Tully and Los Senderos Ranch.
According to documents submitted by Belltown to the Texas Comptroller, the project will span 1,431 acres and will have a capacity of 143 megawatts. It is relatively small compared to the other proposed solar projects in Hopkins County, all of which have a capacity of 200 megawatts or more.
At the commissioners court meeting, Belltown project manager Austin Willis said the project would be a $143 million investment. In submitted documents, the investment is listed at $114.4 million.
The Solterra project also applied for a tax value limitation with Saltillo ISD in October, meaning instead of the district’s tax rate applying to the entire project value, be it $114 million or $143 million, it would be capped at $15 million. The limitation, if approved, would begin in January 2028 and last for ten years.
In that time, the project would generate $131,820 in local revenue a year under Saltillo’s current maintenance and operation tax rate. Over ten years, it would bring $1.3 million to the district. Without the agreement, the project would pay a little over $4 million, according to staff calculations. However, without the agreement, the project would not likely stay in Hopkins County.
There is a complication, somewhat. Tully is the Saltillo ISD school board president, and at the Oct. 26 board meeting, he acknowledged his conflict of interest and abstained from any voting or discussion.
The project would employ one person to maintain the solar project permanently, and its construction is not slated until the first quarter of 2027. Construction would also generate temporary jobs.