Rosebud County hears NextEra Energy request for 50% tax abatement on proposed 600+ MW solar and battery project

County commissioners on Tuesday heard detailed testimony and public questions about NextEra Energy’s request for a 50% tax abatement on a proposed large-scale solar-plus-battery project near the Clearwater Wind Farm.

Speaker 2 (Staff member) told the commission the solar portion of the proposal is about $1.127 billion (taxed under the county’s 6% classification in his explanation), another component he described at roughly $695 million would be taxed at 3%, and the developer has asked for a 50% abatement. "With a tax abatement, for the first five years it's 50%" he said, describing a ramp that reaches 100% tax collection by year 10.

The staff presentation focused on how Senate Bill 117 (2025 legislative session) affects county receipts from newly taxable property. "Instead of getting a 100% of the newly taxable property... because of bill 117, we only get 50% of that," Speaker 2 said, noting the change alters the county's long-term revenue calculations.

Speaker 2 also explained local distribution effects: the project would sit inside the Rosebud School District and could shift the mix of taxable value toward centrally assessed property, changing how mill burdens fall across property classes. "The state has a 101 mills, and that's a 100% — so that's gonna be 8,900,000," he said, adding the state portion is unaffected by an abatement.

Members and public attendees pressed on practical impacts. A presenter said the solar array would be "a little over 600" megawatts and the battery storage "around 400–500" megawatts with a four-hour duration. On jobs, presenters estimated roughly a dozen to 20 permanent positions and about 100 construction jobs during the 2027–2029 build period; they said they were working with Miles Community College on workforce training and aim to hire locally where possible.

Commissioners and staff discussed asset depreciation and future additions: presenters said batteries are refreshed or added roughly every four years and that incremental battery additions would likely be taxable as added value.

Chair (Speaker 1) closed the public-hearing portion and scheduled consideration of the abatement request for next Tuesday at 10:00. No formal abatement decision was made at Tuesday’s meeting.

The hearing also produced a pledge to separately address road-use agreements and impact fees; Speaker 2 said the county would hold that discussion in March and that impact fees and abatement are separate policy decisions.