Crook County directs staff to craft 20-year pilot agreement for West Pineville solar project
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Summary
After public hearing and financial analysis, commissioners instructed staff to draft a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for the West Pineville (Cartwright) solar facility at $7,000 per megawatt and to document a negotiated $1.25 million community payment, pending a legal determination on whether the on-site substation is included.
Crook County commissioners on Feb. 18 authorized staff to draft and finalize a pilot agreement with New Sun (Nu Sun) Energy for the company’s West Pineville (Cartwright) solar project, directing the county to seek a 20‑year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes contract at $7,000 per megawatt and to formalize a negotiated community payment of about $1.25 million before execution.
The county manager, Will Van Vactor, told the board the pilot authority under state law allows agreements up to 20 years and that payments are distributed to taxing districts in the same manner as property-tax revenue. "The big one is stability regarding tax revenue," Van Vactor said, describing the appeal of locking in predictable payments rather than relying on central assessments that can vary year to year.
Finance Director Christina Herron presented the county’s financial analysis. Using the Department of Revenue’s income approach as a model, Herron estimated that, strictly comparing the NPV of a $7,000-per-megawatt pilot to an estimated state property-tax stream for the same 56-megawatt site, the county would forego an estimated $2,400,000 in gross tax revenue across 20 years (the analysis presented was a discounted, net-present-value comparison). "Just looking at strictly the pilot payment, not including that community benefit, we'd be looking at estimated foregone revenue of around $2,400,000," Herron said during the meeting.
Nu Sun CEO Jake Stevens said the company has invested tens of millions in local infrastructure, framed the pilot agreement as essential to project financing and said the company proposed adding a $1,000,000 impact fee plus $250,000 from a community-benefit fund to provide earlier cash flows to the county. "One of the big advantages of the pilot to both of us is we have 20 years of absolute clarity," Stevens said, describing how fixed payments reduce the risk of changing operating costs and central-assessment outcomes.
Speakers at the hearing were split. Matt Smith, fire chief for Crook County Fire & Rescue, told commissioners the district needs stable revenue to plan services for a large project in its territory. Opponents urged a broader county review of solar siting and visual impacts; Tom Green said the county should solicit wider public input before greenlighting more projects.
Commissioners debated trade-offs between a stable revenue stream and potential long-term foregone tax dollars. They said they supported moving forward on a $7,000 per-megawatt standard for this project and the community-payment approach but asked county counsel to research whether the project’s on-site substation is properly included in a pilot agreement’s "qualifying property." The board specifically excluded future battery storage from the current agreement and said that any storage additions would be negotiated separately.
County counsel proposed a motion directing staff to prepare a draft pilot agreement reflecting the parameters discussed and authorizing execution outside a public meeting once legal questions are resolved. The board approved the motion by recorded voice vote (Commissioners Barney and Crawford recorded as "Aye").
Next steps: staff will draft the agreement on the $7,000-per-megawatt basis with the proposed community payment, seek a legal opinion on the substation question, and return the final agreement for execution pursuant to the board’s authorization.
