Greene County council approves tax abatement for Worthington Solar after extended public hearing

Geronimo Power presented its Worthington Solar project to the Greene County Council and residents on Dec. 21, then secured council approval of a confirmatory resolution that designates the proposed site as an economic revitalization area and grants a 10-year abatement on business personal property. The project footprint was presented as about 1,600 acres with roughly 800 acres proposed for solar panels; company representatives said construction negotiations would continue with a goal of beginning work in 2027 and commercial production in the late 2020s.

The presentation was led by Ben Adamich of Geronimo Power, who identified the company as a long-running U.S. developer recently acquired by Brookfield Asset Management. Adamich told the council the company guarantees a minimum capital investment and described tax and payment terms; he said the county cannot abate state-prescribed real-property solar base rates and that the proposed abatement would apply to business personal property and improvements. Adamich stated a guaranteed minimum capital investment of $142,500,000. The transcript also contains an earlier numerical reference that reads as…