Skull Creek Solar agreement amended; developer to donate $80,000 to local nonprofits
Loading...
Summary
The Commissioners approved a two‑year extension/amendment to Skull Creek Solar’s tax‑abatement agreement, conditioned on local contributions totaling $80,000 (Meals on Wheels and Green Bay Community Center); developers said they plan to sell the project to Celestra Energy and will follow up with the school district about outstanding issues.
The Anderson County Commissioners on Nov. 3 approved an amendment to the tax‑abatement agreement for Skull Creek Solar LLC that restates earlier terms and provides a two‑year extension to complete the project, with developer commitments to local donations.
County staff said the amendment relies on the county’s June 2024 guidelines and would extend the project completion date to Dec. 31, 2027. As part of the extension the developer agreed to donate $20,000 to Meals on Wheels of Palestine Inc. and $60,000 to the Green Bay Community Center.
Kyle Paulson, representing HEP Solar (the developer), introduced Alexa Watkins of Celestra Energy and said the project is “imminently” being sold to Celestra, which the developer said has an investor ready. Watkins said the project design targets about 136 megawatts AC and estimated a commercial‑operation date in mid‑2027.
KU ISD officials and other speakers pressed the developer on the effect of the amendment and the sale on a prior Chapter 313 (3.13) agreement and offset payments to the school. Developers said the earlier qualified‑investment period could not be extended because the program sunset at the state level, while district representatives disputed whether the district would be better off without the prior agreement and cited offset payments and other fiscal details that they said would be affected.
Commissioners heard competing explanations about the fiscal impact to the school district: one witness referenced $2.5 million in later payments in the original schedule, while others described expected offsets in the hundreds of thousands; the developer said it would reach out to the school district after the project closing to discuss options.
The amendment to the Skull Creek agreement passed on a recorded voice motion (motion by Commissioner Mims; second by Commissioner Hill; vote: aye). County staff also said the developer will make direct payments to the two nonprofits rather than routing funds through the county to avoid interlocal processes.
Meals on Wheels executive director Van Howard and Green Bay Community Center president Mark Rutledge spoke at the meeting about the local need the funds would address: Howard said the program serves roughly 3,000 seniors annually and delivers 10,000–11,000 meals per month; Rutledge described structural work planned for the historic Green Bay school building and thanked the court for support.
Developers and county staff said they will schedule a public check presentation and coordinate follow‑up steps with KU ISD and other local stakeholders.
