Navajo County approves solar energy facility

The electricity produced will be enough to supply electricity to about 300,000 homes for a year.

The facility will be surrounded by a 6-foot chain-link fence. The staff report said the project should have little effect on wildlife or endangered species. The facility does not border any existing subdivisions and the developer will have to post a bond to guarantee all the panels and support structures will be removed if the plant goes out of business.

Navajo County has approved a string of solar and wind energy facilities in the high desert around Holbrook, Winslow and Joseph City. In part, that reflects the constant sunlight and the low cost of land. But it also allows those facilities to take advantage of the regional power lines that connect to the Cholla coal-fired power plant.

The tracts of land the solar panels will cover are currently owned by the Aztec Land and Cattle Company.

No one spoke at the public hearing, and no one objected to the project when it was approved by the county planning commission.

Supervisor Jason Whiting noted that the project by Lark Point Solar was already in the development pipeline before the county decided to review its regulations of alternative energy facilities.

“We let people know that we’re looking at a our 10-year (general) plan and hit pause (on alternative energy developments), but also that these were already in the pipeline.”

The project advertised community meetings and presented its plans to the planning commission, without drawing any comments for or against from neighbors.

Whiting noted that utility companies have been seeking alternative energy projects. The Salt River Project in particular has been offering long-term contracts for alternative energy proposals, and plans to shut down its coal-fired Cholla plant in coming years.

The Arizona Corporation Commission at one time adopted regulations to encourage a shift to clean-burning alternative energy, but has largely relaxed those conditions, especially for biomass power plants that have played a key role in forest restoration efforts.

SRP and Arizona Public Service have been retiring coal-fired plants and buying more alternative energy, in part because the cost of producing wind and solar energy has fallen.

“You have a private utility that is trying to purchase power from a private landowner and a private company that wants to come in to build it. And we’ll continue to have public meetings as we go through this process, so that’s what I understand our role is today,” said Whiting.