Developers outline 199‑MW solar and 100‑MW battery plan in Elbert County open house; neighbors press water, farmland and fire-safety concerns

Annika Egan, community engagement manager with BayWa, opened a technical open house near Kiowa on behalf of the project team and asked attendees to hold questions for a Q&A period.

Annalise Ross Dijak, the project developer, told attendees the proposal is for a 199‑megawatt solar facility paired with a 100‑megawatt battery system located off County Road 149, about eight miles south of Matheson. She said the team is emphasizing construction details at this stage and that the project boundary and preliminary panel area were shown in the presentation.

Cody, the developer’s director of construction, gave a high‑level schedule: roughly 10–12 months of engineering design, an expected 3–4 months of county permitting, followed by about 18–24 months of overlapping construction phases. He described standard erosion‑control measures (wetting soils, drill seeding, hay and coconut fiber mats, straw wattles, silt fencing and, if necessary, hydroseeding), topsoil stockpiling practices, road construction standards, and on‑site basins designed to capture runoff near the substation.

On emergency response, the team…