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Board approves comprehensive-plan amendment for 250 MW Solace Energy Center battery storage near Wilmot Road
Summary
The board approved a comprehensive-plan amendment to redesignate an 18-acre suburban homestead parcel for a 250-megawatt standalone battery energy storage facility. Developer and staff said the project aligns with utility and state clean-energy goals and is expected to generate tax revenue for local schools.
The Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve a comprehensive-plan amendment that redesignates an 18-acre parcel on South Wilmot Road to allow the Solace Energy Center, a 250-megawatt standalone battery energy storage system developed by Mission Clean Energy.
The developer’s representative, Eva Riley, described the project as a utility-scale battery facility on roughly 18 acres located about 4 miles east of the airport, sited on privately owned land that is currently zoned Suburban Homestead. The board approved changing the parcel’s long-range plan designation from a suburban-intensity to a general/industrial intensity category to accommodate the project.
Riley said the developer had consulted with the nearest neighbor — a federal corrections institute across the street — and that the immediate surroundings otherwise are public land with no planned residential development. She said the project would provide an estimated almost $4 million in tax revenue over the 25-year life of the facility, with more than half of those tax receipts going to the local Unified School District.
Supervisor Hines made the motion to close the public hearing and approve the amendment as recommended by staff and the Planning & Zoning Commission; the board voted 5-0.
Staff noted that the county’s long-term plan goals and regional utility needs for storage informed the recommendation. The applicant pointed to state and utility clean-energy goals and to expectations that energy storage increases grid reliability.
Why this matters: The approval clears the way for a utility-scale battery project intended to support renewable integration and grid stability. Approvals of land-use changes for energy infrastructure are part of local planning’s responses to statewide and utility decarbonization goals.
Provenance: Applicant presentation and staff recommendation occurred during the hearing (comprehensive-plan amendment p24ca000001); the board approved the amendment unanimously.
