Sandoval County declares intent to issue up to $497M industrial revenue bond for large solar and battery project

The Sandoval County Board of County Commissioners on May 28 adopted a nonbinding resolution declaring the county’s intent to approve an ordinance that would enable an industrial revenue bond (IRB) of up to $497,000,000 for a solar generation and battery storage facility proposed by PCR Investments SP4 LLC.

County staff and bond counsel told the board the project would include about 220 megawatts of solar and 10 megawatts of battery storage on roughly 1,833 acres on the east side of the Sandia Mountains, near the border between Sandoval and Santa Fe counties. Construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2027 and power production to start in the first quarter of 2029, officials said.

The resolution the board approved is a declaration of intent — not the final IRB ordinance — and it authorizes staff to publish a notice of intent, begin drafting bond documents (including an indenture and lease), and negotiate a payment‑in‑lieu‑of‑taxes (PILOT) arrangement. Jill Sweeney, bond counsel with the Taft law firm, summarized the role of the measure: “It really is the starting gun of the race, if you will,” she said, describing the resolution’s purpose to enable subsequent drafting and public notice.

Why it matters: County staff said the project would produce one of the largest non‑Intel IRBs in Sandoval County history and generate substantial PILOT revenue. Under a state formula referenced by staff, county officials expect the county to retain the majority of the payments while about 43% would be shared among the five county school districts; staff provided district allocations under that formula during the presentation.

Key details presented to the board: - Site and size: about 1,833 acres on the east side of the Sandia Mountains, adjacent to existing high‑voltage transmission lines and near the Diamond Tail (transcript: “Dimetail”) substation referenced by staff. - Capacity and cost: roughly 220 MW of solar (presented cost about $310 million) and 10 MW of battery storage (presented cost about $187 million). - Schedule: construction expected to begin Q2 2027; commercial operation expected Q1 2029. - Contracting and labor: staff said the developer has included a local labor preference in its application and that PNM (the investor‑owned utility identified in the presentation) is expected to buy the project’s output under a 20‑year power purchase agreement (PPA) if selected through PNM’s competitive process. - PILOT sharing: staff said the project is subject to a 2023 legislative formula (identified in the presentation as “Senate Bill 474, 02/2023”) that allocates school shares by location (50%), school‑district acreage within the county (40%), and district enrollment (10%). Using that formula, staff estimated the county would keep close to 57% of the PILOT revenues and the remaining ~43% would be distributed among the county’s school districts, with staff quoting district‑level shares during the meeting.

Board members asked about pending appeals related to land‑use approvals. County counsel and staff explained that land‑use and zoning challenges are being pursued on a separate legal track from the IRB process; the IRB intent resolution was not stayed and the rezoning remained in effect as of the meeting. County staff also said the developer had filed materials with PNM for the utility’s solicitation, and that the IRB work commonly proceeds in front of, or parallel to, utility procurement and permitting steps.

The board’s action on May 28 was to adopt resolution 5‑28‑25‑12A (declaring the county’s intent to proceed with an ordinance and to draft bond documents). The measure passed on a roll‑call vote of the commissioners present.

Next steps: staff said it will publish the notice of intent, complete draft bond documents, continue PILOT negotiations, and return to the board with an ordinance and final bond documents for a subsequent meeting (staff indicated an anticipated return date in July for ordinance introduction). The land‑use appeals remain pending in district court, a separate process that staff said could affect project timing but does not automatically stay the IRB track.

Ending: The county’s adoption of the intent resolution moves the IRB process into document drafting and PILOT negotiation phases, while questions about zoning and appeals continue on a parallel track in district court.