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Developers outline 450 MW solar, 225 MW battery project at Drunkard’s Wash; commissioners ask staff to review
Summary
Nadara presented the Drunkard’s Wash Energy Project — a proposed 450 MW photovoltaic array with 225 MW of battery storage on roughly 3,300 acres of SITLA land near Huntington — and described mitigation, cultural-resource protections and projected county revenue. Planning staff advised a formal review before any recommendation.
Paul Gascoigne, development director for Nadara, told the Emery County Planning and Zoning Commission that the Drunkard’s Wash Energy Project would occupy roughly 3,300 acres on SITLA-managed land north of Huntington and include 450 megawatts of photovoltaic panels and 225 megawatts of battery storage. "The project itself... 450 megawatts. That's the PV size. The battery storage is half that," Gascoigne said, adding the site is set back more than two miles from Highway 10 and interconnection will be to a nearby Pacificorp transmission line.
Gascoigne described the developer's studies and mitigation strategy, including cultural-resource surveys, buffers around identified Fremont-period artifact sites, and coordination with the State Historic Preservation Office and the Division of Wildlife Resources. "Those would be left undisturbed and protected," he said of cultural drainages, and he said buffers are being planned around those areas.
On fiscal impacts, Gascoigne said an independent assessment estimated roughly $100 million in project-related revenue over 20 years, and that the county's share would be on the order of tens of millions across that period. He also cited new state legislation affecting solar — noting a per-megawatt contribution under a recently passed bill and a separate decommissioning requirement enacted this year — and said the project team would post bonding and negotiate surface-occupancy terms with the existing oil-and-gas operator on the land.
Commissioners and residents asked detailed questions about wildlife, grazing permits, visual impacts, erosion and emergency response. A local fire-safety consultant who works on battery storage explained the current industry practice, saying the accepted response approach is to "observe and contain" rather than attempting to extinguish a lithium-ion battery event with conventional suppression. The consultant cited large incidents in California as part of the evidence base and urged a collaborative, site-specific emergency plan with county fire agencies.
Planning commissioners emphasized procedure: one commissioner said this was the first review the planning body had seen and recommended a formal zoning-administrator and staff review before the commission forwards any recommendation to the county commission. Chair Gary said the presentation would be taken "under advisement" and placed on a future agenda for discussion after staff review.
The presentation produced no final vote; commissioners asked staff to complete the standard review steps and return findings and recommended conditions for any conditional-use permit action.
