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Board approves Harwood battery storage siting agreement, selects recurring payment option
Summary
After a staff presentation and a public hearing, supervisors approved a siting agreement for the Harwood battery storage facility and selected option E3 — a series of recurring payments to the county — subject to county attorney approval.
The Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on a siting agreement proffered by the developer of the Harwood battery energy storage project and approved the document by roll‑call vote, selecting the developers’ option that provides the largest cumulative payment stream to the county.
County counsel Richard Stewart summarized the agreement and confirmed that confidential provisions requested by the applicant had been removed at the county’s insistence. County administrator Matthew Smolnick said the agreement is a mechanism, allowed under state law, to mitigate project impacts on the locality, similar to agreements the county has used with other large projects.
The applicant representative described three payment options presented in Exhibit B: (1) a one‑time payment of $250,000 within 60 days of commercial operation (CO); (2) recurring payments of $100,000 every two years (three payments total, $300,000); and (3) a recurring plan the applicant described as $65,000 with the first payment within 60 days of CO and subsequent anniversary payments for four years, which the application material characterized as producing a total of $365,000 over the payment period. Staff and the applicant clarified the schedule and ancillary commitments, including equipment purchases and routine voluntary payments in Exhibit B.
Following public comment and a brief discussion, Supervisor Stroud moved to approve the siting agreement using option E3, subject to county attorney approval; the motion was seconded and passed by roll call: Collins — Aye; Stroud — Aye; Bender — Aye; Sullins — Aye; Chair — Aye. The board instructed staff and counsel to finalize the wording and return the executed agreement to the public record.
The approved option will be in addition to the facility’s Michigan‑and‑T tax (M&T) obligations and other voluntary community payments the applicant committed to in the draft agreement. County staff said the precise timing of initial receipts depends on the project’s schedule for site plan approval and commercial operation.
