LARNED — A multinational energy company’s proposal to place a five-acre solar farm in southern Pawnee County has officials looking at spelling out the rules and regulations governing solar energy generation.

At present, there are no policies on the county’s books regarding commercial alternative energy production. As the renewable energy source gains ground across the state, more Kansas counties are looking at whether solar farms would be a bankable asset or a risk to traditional agriculture producers.

Kurt Demel, Pawnee County’s Road and Bridge superintendent, sits on the county’s zoning board that prepares the policy language for the Pawnee County Board of County Commissioners to enact.

“We know that they (solar energy companies) will be coming,” he said. “In some places, they are already here. 

“We need to be very careful with this,” he said. “If our rules are too strict, they will just go somewhere else. If they aren’t strict enough, they won’t protect the farmers in our county.

“We have to do it now, because we need rules to fall back on,” Demel noted. “We can’t just let them come in and write the rules later.”

Thursday evening, the zoning board met in the first-floor lounge at the Pawnee County Courthouse to review a first draft of locally generated county regs. The meeting was also attended by local residents and stakeholders in the issue to participate in the round-table discussion.

Also discussed was the bid by multinational company Acciona Energy, for its U.S. division to place a five-acre solar farm at the Pawnee-Edwards County border. The company considers the area a prime location due to the transmission line that goes through both counties, in use for about the past three decades. Additionally, the Grain Belt Express energy company is currently beginning rights-of-way negotiations for another line that would run parallel to the existing one. Demel expects that the Grain Belt line is still about 2-4 years away from construction.

“You can’t have a solar farm without a transmission line, access to the grid,” he said. “You also need some kind of sub-station that can step up the voltage the farm produces so it can go on the grid.”

County revenue benefits

Demel told the group he estimates between 200-350 workers would be needed to install the panels, erect the sub-station and effect tie-ins. When the project is completed, a contingent of between 25-30 workers would be needed to manage the farm.

The county’s residents would also benefit from the power being added to the grid, in the nature of lower energy costs to consumers. 

“I will tell you this, that when they produce this power, it keeps your other rates lower because they’re not having to buy so much natural gas and coal,” he said. “It will make your rate lower, hopefully, even though we’re not getting it when it goes into that line. It will help keep your rates lower for everybody.”

Additionally, “this is going to be set up on a 40-year lease,” he said. Demel noted that land owners’ taxes will “stay pretty much the same,” but that the energy program’s tax contribution will depend upon negotiated incentives or other considerations. 

The right regs

Discussion then turned to specifics, such as lease roads, setbacks, heights for structures and other protective concerns, such as decommissioning procedures and rights-of-way.

Demel noted that because the project would involve both Pawnee and Edwards counties, they would be responsible for the Pawnee County portion. Project stakeholders in the Edwards County portion would follow the regs set forth by Edwards County, he said.

During the discussion, Cindy Wallace addressed the group, saying that the drafted Pawnee County policy was “a little thin” in comparison to those being developed in other counties in the state.

Wallace, who is a policy adviser for the Center for Infrastructure & Economic Development in Kansas, told the group that her organization provides input for counties seeking to draft alternative energy policy, at no cost to the governing bodies.

She compared the proposed Pawnee County draft to that of Butler County, noting that the Pawnee County draft was eight pages in length, while Butler County’s was approximately 30 pages.

“The Butler County codes have larger setbacks and spell out procedures for decommissioning,” she said. “You need to really spell things out.”

As an example, while the Pawnee County regs call for a 300-foot setback, the Butler County code sets a minimum of 1,000 feet.

“They also have down what needs to happen should they decide to vacate the property,” she said. “Things like putting the ground and roadways back as good or better than when they got there,” she noted. In response to questions from the group, Wallace explained that solar energy policies were being enacted in eastern Kansas counties such as Johnson, Douglas, Butler and Sedgwick that have larger urban populations. Currently, there was little action going on in rural counties farther west, she said. “You also need to keep in mind that what might be workable in those counties might not work here,” she noted. “We can help with that.”

Board chairman John Blackwell noted that more fact collection is needed before the board approves any regulations on the matter.

“It looks like we’ve got some more work to do and I would suggest that we contact Cindy’s company for some help,” he said.

While a future meeting was discussed, no official date was set to continue discussion. The meeting was then adjourned, with no action taken.