Council to consider amendment to solar lease with Keystone Power Holdings LLC

Lincoln City Council members agreed to place on a forthcoming regular agenda an amendment request from Keystone Power Holdings LLC that would add a construction period to an existing solar-site lease and finalize documents the company says banks require for project financing.

Keystone project representative Anthony told the council the amendment would add a $1,500 payment to allow time to build a larger community solar array on city-owned land east of the wastewater treatment plant, and that the city’s share under a proposed subscriber agreement would start at 20% of that array’s output at 4¢ per bill credit. “So it’ll start at 20,” Anthony said, explaining the city could reduce that share once per year but could not increase it, “and you pay 4¢ just like on the other for for those bill credits.”

The amendment package Keystone delivered to the city includes (1) a notice of commencement, (2) the proposed construction-period amendment to the lease, (3) a memorandum confirming the original lease was executed, and (4) a subscriber agreement and the state disclosure for community solar required by the Illinois Shines program. Anthony told the council the original lease was signed electronically early in the pandemic and the company’s lenders now require recorded, wet‑signed documents. “If you agree to it we’ll need to record it. So unfortunately, we’ve gotta get wet signatures as required by our banks,” Anthony said.

City staff and Keystone representatives discussed the project’s timeline and interconnection with Ameren. A city staff member reported recent repairs restored tracking at the existing site and said, “they are now following the sun so we’re back to generating a 100% of the power that we should be generating.” Keystone and city speakers warned that Ameren has delayed interconnection work for the larger project and that commercial-scale hookup could be as late as the end of 2026. Anthony said the community solar subscriber disclosure projects roughly $60,000 in annual savings to the city at current rates but cautioned that rates change and the savings estimate comes from the state disclosure.

Keystone also said it is paying higher-than-market land rent for the site ($1,100 per fenced acre) and that the company paid for certain Ameren equipment and upgrades while awaiting connection. Anthony and other speakers described coordination issues with Ameren and equipment failures at the existing site; Keystone said it is procuring replacement equipment at its own cost to avoid repeat outages.

Council members asked clarifying questions, including how the 4¢ bill-credit rate compares to the local price-to-compare (the current summer rate cited by speakers was about 12¢). No formal vote on the lease amendment took place at the meeting; the council chair said the item would be placed on the regular agenda for a future meeting.

Keystone’s request, as described to the council, includes a construction-period amendment (additional $1,500 to the city), recorded lease documents for lenders, and a subscriber agreement that would start the city at a 20% share of a new community solar field with annual adjustment downward allowed.

If the council approves the amendment at the upcoming meeting the city will be asked to sign recorded documents and to later consider the subscriber agreement that formalizes the 20% allocation and the 4¢ bill-credit price.