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Ames council halts current airport-area solar project, cites land and tax-credit timing
Summary
The Ames City Council voted to stop pursuing a proposed solar farm with the current developer after concluding airport-reserved land (including about 50 acres leased by John Deere) was not available and the developer faced a compressed federal tax-credit timeline.
Mayor John Haila said the Ames City Council voted on May 26 to cease pursuing a proposed solar farm with the current developer after determining the airport site under consideration lacked the land and scheduling flexibility the project required.
The council’s decision followed staff presentations about the airport master plan and the developer’s explanation that they needed a contiguous farm parcel of about 50 acres — currently leased by John Deere for sprayer testing — to make the project economically viable. "The solar developer made it very clear that unless they had farm ground, which was currently being leased by John Deere, that they would not be able to economically produce electricity via solar panels," Haila said.
Why it matters: the Sigler-area and surrounding parcels are reserved in the airport master plan for future aeronautical and non-aeronautical use. Council members voted to withhold any land slated for future airport development from the solar proposal, including the John Deere–leased parcel, and the motion to stop pursuing this proposal with the current developer was approved.
Council members also weighed the project’s timetable. Haila explained the developer was under a tight deadline to meet federal tax-credit safe-harbor requirements and would have needed to invest substantial funds before early July to preserve those credits. "The developer's under a tight timeline in order to meet safe harbor requirements to get federal tax credits," Haila said, adding that the firm could not feasibly shift to another site and still meet that schedule.
Haila emphasized the vote should not be read as opposition to renewable energy. "This should not be misconstrued that the council is... very much committed to renewable energy," he said, noting the city remains interested in expanding renewable-energy projects but concluded the airport location was not appropriate for this developer’s plan due to acreage and density limits.
Next steps: Haila said the council hopes either this developer or another will bring forward a different proposal better suited to available sites in Ames. No formal alternative site or timeline was specified during the meeting.
The discussion on the solar proposal was part of agenda item 38 at the May 26 Ames City Council meeting.
