St. Croix County committee sends JDA comments to attorneys after hours of public concern over 10 Mile Creek solar project
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Summary
After hours of public testimony raising safety, health and decommissioning concerns about battery storage and large-scale solar, the county’s Community Development Committee voted unanimously to forward committee and public comments on the draft joint development agreement with Xcel Energy to outside counsel for revision and negotiation.
The St. Croix County Community Development Committee on Feb. 19 directed county counsel to revise a draft joint development agreement (JDA) related to the 10 Mile Creek solar project and to seek feedback from Xcel Energy after more than three hours of public comment.
Jason, community development staff, told the committee the draft JDA in the packet reflects work by Atollis Law and that staff and counsel have met with Xcel once; he said the county has spent about $30,000 on legal work so far. He advised the committee it could (1) instruct counsel to amend the draft and send it to Xcel, (2) send the draft to Xcel for feedback, or (3) defer to the full county board.
Residents at the meeting urged stronger protections in the JDA. Tom Bruchandel warned that “large-scale battery energy storage systems carry well documented safety risks including fire hazards, thermal runaway events, and the release of toxic smoke,” and urged independent safety assessments, ongoing monitoring and clear emergency response coordination. Ryan Semp and other nearby residents asked how the county would ensure first responders are prepared and how long hazardous releases would be contained.
Several speakers pressed the county for more robust decommissioning and financial-assurance language. A public commenter said the draft’s proposed emergency-response funding of $25,000 was inadequate; another asked that decommissioning assurances be increased and staged so the county holds funds until test wells confirm no water-quality impacts.
Supervisor Shirley and others singled out three priority topics for the JDA: decommissioning (levels and timing of financial assurance), battery storage safety and containment, and emergency-notification/response planning. Shirley recommended changes including higher early financial-assurance percentages, periodic independent reviews of decommissioning costs with provisions to increase assurances if costs rose, and conditioned release of security on post-decommissioning groundwater testing.
Other residents and supervisors urged procedures for water-quality baseline and follow-up testing, specialized fire training and notification procedures if ventilation systems for battery storage are activated. Several requested that any funding for schools or community programs not substitute for direct homeowner compensation.
After discussing revisions and a request to consolidate public and committee input, the committee voted unanimously to send the collected comments and suggested changes to Atollis Law for incorporation into a revised draft and to ask counsel to contact Xcel for timeline and response. The motion recorded that staff should present the attorney-revised draft back to the committee before it is shared with Xcel or sent to the full county board for action.
Next steps: Atollis Law will receive the committee’s written direction and public-comment notes; the attorney will prepare a revised draft for committee review and will attempt to contact Xcel to determine whether Xcel will accept or propose additional changes, after which the committee will decide next procedural steps.
