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Foxtail Flats solar-plus-storage sees contract delay; county weighing market purchases
Summary
The county reported a six-month slip in Foxtail Flats' initial phase and a move of the commercial operation date into early 2027 after the developer received an excused delay tied to tribal land approvals; staff said market power purchases are being considered to cover shortfalls.
Los Alamos County staff updated the Board of Public Utilities on April 2 about the status of planned future resources in the county's integrated resource plan (IRP), including a contract delay for the Foxtail Flats solar-and-storage project.
Ben (last name not provided at the meeting) told the board the Foxtail Flats developer submitted a formal notice of an excused delay tied to a required Ute Mountain Ute lease approval and related Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) processing. The county now expects a six-month slip to the Phase 1 (50% capacity) delivery date, moving it from March 2026 to about September 2026, and a commercial-operation-date shift into early 2027 (notionally February 2027).
"We did get a formal notice of an excused delay, and that is contract language," Ben said. The notice cited the seller's inability to obtain a final non-appealable BIA lease approval by the prior lease milestone. The developer remains the project partner, but the delay uses a contract provision that permits pushouts of delivery dates without penalty for certain development risks; the county noted the excused delay period has defined maximum durations.
Staff said they have no new BIA update to report and flagged other development risks (potential tariff and tax-credit changes) as areas they are monitoring. Because Foxtail Flats is expected to supply significant daytime generation and storage capacity, Ben said the county is planning for interim market power purchases to mitigate supply gaps caused by the delay.
Other items in the IRP update included limited progress on other distributed energy resource projects: UAMPS geothermal work continues in cohort planning, tribal solar parties are pursuing federal grant funding and other developers are still refining proposals. Staff also said they're monitoring emerging storage technologies (for example, an Energy Dome pilot) but will not change the county's portfolio commitments until developers demonstrate commercial viability.
Why it matters: The Foxtail Flats slip affects the county's expected new resource arrivals and could change near-term procurement and cost exposure, prompting temporary market purchases and ongoing risk monitoring.
Next steps: Staff will continue to monitor the BIA review process, track market purchase needs and report updates to the board as they arise.
