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Pine Gate Renewables outlines early plans for proposed Roosevelt County solar project; commissioners attend as guests
Summary
Presenters from Pine Gate Renewables told the Roosevelt Soil and Water Conservation District and county officials the solar project is in early feasibility with construction targeted for 2028; presenters said panels are sited on steel pilings, have a 30–35 year lifespan and the project would not include battery storage.
Presenters from Pine Gate Renewables described a proposed solar project in Roosevelt County as being in early feasibility and site‑evaluation stages and said construction is targeted to begin in 2028. The presentation was given to the Roosevelt Soil and Water Conservation District at a special informational meeting attended by county commissioners and staff on March 28; no formal action was taken.
Kyle Ostgard, a presenter with Pine Gate Renewables, and Mikalya Newsom, a Pine Gate presenter, said the company is seeking early input from local stakeholders and asked to be included in planning and design to help preserve working land and limit site disturbance. Mike Cone of the Roosevelt Soil and Water Conservation District said the district wanted a “seat at the table” for planning and land‑preservation decisions.
Newsom told the meeting Pine Gate plans to use a third‑party maintenance contractor to handle on‑site maintenance from construction through decommissioning, including erosion control. She said the company designs panel arrays with spacing to allow reseeding between rows and attempts to retain mature vegetation where practical. "The panels are rated for the weather of the area including hail," Newsom said.
On technical questions, Newsom said the panels will be mounted on steel pilings and that concrete would be used only at the substation base. She told attendees the typical panel lifespan is about 30–35 years and that financing models are based on a 30‑year term; with equipment upgrades the operational life could extend beyond 40 years.
When asked by Commissioner Fabian Munoz whether the proposal includes battery storage, Pine Gate representatives said the current project scope is solar only, with no battery storage planned. Attendees asked for example sites and visual materials; Newsom said she would provide drone video, photographs and a map of the project area and noted Pine Gate has projects in multiple states, including the Texas Panhandle.
Local questions included compliance and on‑site management, to which presenters replied there would be an on‑site manager; and whether the leased land would be fully used, to which Pine Gate said it would not. Dawn Privett confirmed a lease is in place. Assessor Stevin Floyd asked whether the company intends to pay ad valorem taxes or make Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) payments; presenters said taxation and assessment details will follow later in development.
Environmental concerns were raised about known local species. Mike Cone identified the lesser prairie chicken and the sagebrush sand dune lizard as species of concern; Newsom said Pine Gate is factoring those species into habitat assessments.
Several county staff and commissioners asked to be kept informed during planning. Commissioner Tina Dixon said after the meeting she opposed taking farmland out of production. The informational session lasted about half an hour and adjourned at 9:29 a.m.; commissioners attended as guests and no votes or formal actions were taken.
