At the Sept. 5 Wichita County Commissioners Court, representatives of TotalEnergies Renewables USA described a large-scale solar proposal called Wichita 1 that the company said would include 625 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic panels and 150 MW of battery storage. Company representatives said they planned construction to begin in the first quarter of 2026 and aim for commercial operation in late 2027.

TotalEnergies’ local presenter, Bernard Jackson, and tax adviser Mike Fry described the project footprint and economic effects and asked the court to consider establishing a reinvestment zone so the county could legally negotiate a tax-abatement (pilot) agreement. The company also said it had an existing Chapter 313 agreement with a school district covering part of Wichita 1 and that most parcels in the first phase are under lease or option.

Why it matters: The company estimated the project’s first-year market value on county tax rolls would be about $830 million, calculated under Texas appraisal practice for solar and storage, which uses the cost approach and a depreciation schedule. Fry explained that after ten years of depreciation the property could floor to roughly 20% of initial valuation under typical local appraisal methods. The scale of valuation would create material tax receipts under normal valuation and would also make piloted abatement negotiations significant to county revenues and affected school districts.

Project particulars presented
- Size and scope: TotalEnergies described Wichita 1 as roughly 6,000 acres within a larger redoutlined study area and said panels would occupy a subset of that acreage once oil- and gas-related setbacks and unbuildable land were excluded. The company said the panel area would be substantially less than the total reinvestment-zone acreage.
- Equipment and site work: presenters cited about 1.5 million solar panels, about 201 central inverters, a dedicated substation, new transmission interconnection and a SCADA monitoring system with remote operations. Roads, fencing and foundations were outlined as part of on-site work.
- Employment: TotalEnergies estimated peak construction employment of about 400 workers, about 855 man-years of construction labor, and a small permanent operations team (company estimate: two to four positions once operational).
- Valuation and timing: Mike Fry said the first-year appraised value for Wichita 1 is roughly $830 million including batteries; batteries are valued under the same cost approach. The company proposed a conservative schedule: start construction in Q1 2026 and reach operation by Q4 2027.

Local impacts and county questions
Court members asked about reinvestment-zone boundaries, school-district 313 agreements, and whether Wichita 1 would capture parcels across multiple school districts. Company representatives said Wichita 1 (the initial phase) has lease or option agreements signed and that communications were ongoing for adjacent acreage in a possible Wichita 2 expansion. The company said it has a 313 incentive in place with Electra ISD for the Wichita 1 portion that lies within that district.

County members also asked about fire safety, vegetation management and decommissioning. TotalEnergies said battery storage units are contained in purpose-built containers with fire-containment measures, that the company will coordinate training and equipment with local volunteer fire departments, and that Texas law and project agreements require a decommissioning bond to restore land at project end.

Procurement and next steps
No abatement or zone was adopted at the Sept. 5 meeting. The company requested that the court establish a reinvestment zone, which is the first step before negotiating a tax-abatement agreement. TotalEnergies representatives said they could narrow reinvestment-zone boundaries if the court preferred a smaller initial zone limited to already-leased parcels. The court was given notice of the project and told that formal publication and a two-step process would be required to create a reinvestment zone and later negotiate an abatement (pilot) payment.

Ending: Commissioners did not vote on the reinvestment zone Sept. 5; TotalEnergies asked the court to consider the zone so abatement negotiations could proceed in the coming months if the court chooses to do so.