Commissioners approve permit request for the establishment of solar generation facility
By Becky Uehling
Grant Tribune Correspondent
A public hearing to consider a conditional use permit for Midwest Electric Cooperative Corp. to establish a solar generation facility in the county was held during the Tuesday, Jan. 21 meeting of the Perkins County Commissioners, with the commissioners approving the permit.
Present at the meeting to answer questions about the project were Midwest Electric Cooperative Corp. Manager Jayson Bishop, and West Central Nebraska Development District (WCNDD) Executive Director Edward Dunn. WCNDD is in charge of zoning and planning for Perkins County.
Both men explained the purpose and parameters of the project, and answered a few questions. After the public hearing was closed at 9:46 a.m., the board unanimously approved to accept the recommendation of the County’s Planning Commission to accept Midwest Electric’s request for a conditional use permit, allowing them to move ahead with the solar generation project.
The project will be located three miles north and two miles east of Grant on ground belonging to Don and Jorga Gloy of Grant and being leased by Midwest, Bishop said.
The Perkins County site is one of four that Midwest is establishing in the area. Two sites are being located in Keith County and one is being located near Wallace.
According to Bishop, the proposed solar generation facility will have a maximum output capacity of 2.0 megawatts AC, and will be accompanied by a battery storage system with a total storage capacity of 7.8 megawatt hours. The Perkins County site’s solar generation will be around 3 percent of the annual energy used by Midwest members, he said. However, he said because Midwest’s summer load during irrigation season is nearly ten times the load outside of irrigation season, approximately seven to eight months of the year, Midwest could be getting nearly 25 percent of its power from all four solar facilities during the daytime.
Bishop said Midwest has contracted with AgriPower Solar out of Salt Lake City, Utah to install the solar facilities. The company will bring much of the material needed to build the facilities, and will provide the bulk of the labor, but they plan to use local subcontractors on parts of the project, Bishop said.
The total cost of the Perkins County project is projected to cost $16.9M, before any loan forgiveness or tax credits are taken into account, Bishop said.
“We have budgeted an average of $280,000 annually over the 25-year initial life cycle for maintenance of the system and replacement of a percentage of the equipment that may fail earlier than the expected 25-year lifetime,” Bishop said in a separate email to the Tribune-Sentinel regarding the project.
The arrays in the solar field will be a dual-axis tracking system, meaning they will rotate to follow the sun during the day and also tilt to adjust for the changing angle to the sun during the year, Bishop said.
According to Bishop, Midwest hopes to have the facility operational by the end of the year.
Look for further information in future editions of the Tribune-Sentinel.
Public Transit Required to Get New Software
Public Transit Director Trish Jimenez reported to the commissioners about the state’s mandate for the county to purchase new software for the Public Transit bus by July 2025.
According to Jimenez, the mandated software is a scheduling program that helps the county report to the state monthly its revenue hours, revenue miles and boarding.
The software essentially will make sure that data is accurate, she said. Also, depending on the software, there may be the availability for riders to schedule trips online, she said.
More information will be forthcoming at future meetings.
WCNDD Hired to Update County’s Comprehensive Plan
During the meeting the commissioners unanimously agreed to hire WCNDD to update the county’s Comprehensive Plan. According to Dunn, the update will take approximately a year to complete.
Commissioners Sign Settlement Agreement with Wheatland Industries
Commissioner Bottom moved to approve and have Chairman Steve Tucker sign the settlement agreement with Wheatland Industries for the years of 2022, 2023 and 2024. Commissioner Robertson seconded the motion, with all three voting yes.
Last Meeting for Long
The meeting was the last one for County Clerk Rita Long, who is retiring after serving in the Clerk position for the past 18 year, and whose last day will be January 31. During the meeting, Long presented some fun facts about her time in the Clerk’s Office. These facts included the following: Commissioner’s Meetings attended, 432; Different Number of County Officers worked with—Commissioners, 10; Treasurers, 3; Assessors, 2; Attorney and Sheriff, each one; District Court Judges, five; Clerk’s Employees, seven. District court cases involved with: Civil, 723; Criminal, 207; Jury trials, 6. Elections involved with: 18; special elections, four or five.