Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Kern County Board approves Buttonbush solar and storage project, citing jobs, water and tax benefits
Summary
After public comment and staff assurances on mitigation and mineral-rights protection, the Kern County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the Buttonbush Solar and Storage project — a proposed ~2 GW solar facility with ~16 GWh battery storage across nearly 12,000 acres — citing construction jobs, groundwater-savings and tax revenue.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors on March 24 certified the final Environmental Impact Report and approved the Buttonbush Solar and Storage project, a large-scale solar-plus-storage development proposed across nearly 12,000 acres in unincorporated Buttonwillow-area farmland.
Director of Planning and Natural Resources Greg Murphy told the board the project would require conditional use permits, Williamson Act cancellations and amendments to the Kern County General Plan and Buttonwillow Community Development Plan. “The project includes development of a photovoltaic solar facility that would generate approximately two gigawatts of renewable energy and 16 gigawatt hours of battery storage, all on just under 12,000 acres across seven different project sites,” Murphy said, and staff attached an updated mitigation, monitoring and reporting program to the staff report.
Applicant Kevin…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
