Timeline for Rose Gold Solar amended

One solar company has amended its timeline for its prospective project in Jay County.

Another company plans to do the same next month.

Jay County Council approved an amendment Wednesday to the economic development agreement with Leeward Renewable Energy for its planned Rose Gold Solar farm north of Dunkirk. It also heard a request from Invenergy — it is planning Skycrest Solar in Penn and Jackson townships — to amend its economic development agreement in relation to its construction and operational start dates.

Both amendments are also subject to approval from Jay County Commissioners, who meet Monday.

Rose Gold Solar, a 150-megawatt solar facility planned on about 1,430 acres of land north of Dunkirk, is estimated to have a lifespan between 30 and 40 years once in operation. Leeward Renewable Energy completed local government legal requirements in 2021 and 2022, including a tax abatement, road use agreement, decommissioning plan and economic development agreement. 

The company originally anticipated beginning construction on the nearly $173 million project in late 2022. Because of delays with the process with PJM Interconnection — the regional transmission organization coordinates wholesale electricity movement across 13 states, including Indiana, and the District of Columbia — Leeward Renewable Energy’s timeline has shifted. (PJM revamped its analysis process in April 2022 for new services joining the power grid, placing existing queue projects such as Rose Gold Solar into clusters at the end of last year. Rose Gold Solar is undergoing a mandatory study process through September 2025.)

According to the amended economic development agreement, the company is now estimated to start construction by June 30, 2027, with completion by Dec. 31, 2028.

Although briefly discussed at council’s April meeting, no amendments to Leeward Renewable Energy’s economic development payments were discussed or included in the document approved Wednesday.

As originally approved, Leeward will give $1.95 million to the county in economic development payments over a four-year period after the facility begins generating electricity. The project is also projected to result in an additional $68.1 million in assessed value.

Council also heard a request from Invenergy representatives to push back its timeline by about a year.

Invenergy, the first renewable energy company to formally propose a solar farm in Jay County in 2021, is planning Skycrest Solar on about 2,500 acres in the northwest corner of Jay County. The company will pay about $1.75 million in economic development payments to the county over the course of four years after construction begins. Skycrest Solar will also result in an estimated additional $55 million in assessed value.

Invenergy has signed its final interconnection agreement with PJM Interconnection. 

Ethan Sternburg of Invenergy explained that the company first submitted its request to PJM connection in 2019, with the process at that time estimated to take about two or three years.

“Because of the sheer amount of different requests that are coming in, the grid operator’s taking a lot longer,” he said. “Our original expectation that we would get it in 2022 or 2023 didn’t necessarily happen.”

He said the company received its final interconnection agreement earlier this year. Still, with other transmission delays possible — he also noted previous issues with securing solar panels, which shouldn’t be a problem with the new timeline — Sternburg asked for a one-year extension on the project’s construction and operational start dates. 

Originally, the company anticipated to begin construction in 2024 and be operational by 2026. With the proposed amendment, Invenergy would break ground on the project by 2025 and begin generating electricity by 2027. (Sternburg noted the company has worked with landowners to extend their leases in relation to the project.)

“Overall, we're still very optimistic and confident in the ability for us to construct this project, but we are requesting a one-year extension,” he said.

Similar to April’s meeting, council president Matt Minnich asked Invenergy to re-open discussion on economic development payments, with Sternburg saying he would look into the matter after the timeline amendment.

Also Wednesday, council heard applications for the county’s owner-occupied rehabilitation program will be open from May 28 through June 28. 

Funded mainly through a $1 million grant through Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) for the county’s participation in the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP), the program will help residents pay for home improvements such as replacing a roof, water heater or heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit, doing electrical work or making a home more accessible. Applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Community coordinator Nate Kimball explained applications will be reviewed by himself, consulting firm Kleinpeter Consulting Group, Jay County Commissioners and OCRA, with the state organization making the final decision on what projects are funded. The process also requires home inspections and environmental studies — they are required by the state — done on each property.

The OCRA grant must be spent by the end of 2025.

In other business, council members Jeanne Houchins, Faron Parr, Harold Towell, Cindy Bracy, Randy May and Minnich, absent Dave Haines:

•Approved dates for the 2025 budgeting process. Council will host a budget review meeting at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 4, a regular meeting at 6 p.m. Sept. 11, a public hearing and first reading of the budget at 6 p.m. Sept. 25 and a second reading and adoption of the budget at 6 p.m. Oct. 9. 

•Made the following additional appropriations: $80,000 (Bracy and Towell dissenting) in economic development income tax (EDIT) funds for a contract with Kleinpeter Consulting for its work with the owner-occupied rehabilitation program; $3,450 (Towell dissenting) in EDIT dollars for the Portland Rockets; and $1,160 for pauper counsel.

•Tabled a $3,500 additional appropriation for repairing equipment at Jay County Country Living.

•Transferred $22,800 from the fund for Jay County jailers’ wages to the fund for jail equipment. Plans are to use the dollars to outfit new vehicles.