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Roosevelt County officials say they were not notified about planned solar project; developer pledges follow‑up
Summary
County staff and commissioners said they learned of the proposed solar lease from a conservation district, not the developer; the developer apologized, said outreach timing is often constrained by project viability, and offered to meet in person and provide project maps.
County officials said they were not informed earlier about a proposed solar project and asked the developer to include local staff and commissioners in ongoing outreach.
Tina Dixon of Roosevelt County told the call that county zoning staff and commissioners “did not know anything about this” until the conservation district notified them and asked that the county be included in future outreach. Other county participants said they felt blindsided and stressed that county review is needed for roads, E‑911 addressing and road‑use agreements if heavy equipment will travel county roads.
The developer apologized for the timing of outreach and said the project is at an early stage with only leases and preliminary habitat work completed. The company said it often waits until certain site control and preliminary studies are more secure before broad public outreach to avoid raising expectations for projects that may not proceed. The developer committed to provide a KMZ/shape file of the project footprint, share photos of comparable nearby projects, collect county contact information and follow up with an in‑person visit.
Roosevelt County planning staff asked specific technical questions about setbacks, flood plain avoidance and whether battery storage will be included. The developer said it typically uses a 50‑foot setback from property edges and wetlands and that this particular project has no battery storage planned; pile‑driven steel posts — not concrete pads — are used for panel mounts while concrete pads are used for substations and transformers.
Next steps: the developer said environmental and habitat assessments are pending and it has submitted a grid interconnection study that will determine upgrade costs and influence final feasibility; county officials asked to be kept apprised as studies and permitting advance.
