Williamson County approves decommissioning plan for Summit Bridge Energy’s Sandyville solar project

The Williamson County Board approved a decommissioning plan for the Sandyville solar project proposed by Summit Bridge Energy, designed to ensure sites are restored if a solar array is abandoned.

Speaker 1 described the county ordinance requiring a decommissioning plan for projects of this size and said the plan requires project companies to remove steel and related infrastructure and return driveways and disturbed ground to pre-project conditions if a site is unused for 12 months or more. The plan mandates that the decommissioning cost estimate be reevaluated every five years and that bonding or other protections be revisited if costs escalate.

Speaker 3 raised concerns about whether current estimates will cover long-term costs if bonds or providers fail. "...take this $500,000, and I'm working in round numbers here, and just use 3% inflation out to the 20 to 25 years, that's maybe 1000000 dollar" he said, urging diligence in five-year reevaluations and bonding protections. Speaker 1 noted most of these projects are on private land (not county-owned) and that landowners often bear part of obligations.

The motion to approve the Summit Bridge Energy decommissioning plan was moved by Speaker 3 and seconded by Speaker 2; commissioners indicated approval in the meeting record but the transcript does not include a full roll-call tally. The county indicated the plan is intended to prevent the kind of abandoned-site reclamation that previously required state-funded remediation for other extractive industries.