North Renew Energy seeks permit for 150‑MW Husky Howl solar and 50‑MW battery near Drummond

North Renew Energy project manager Mark Green told the Fremont County Planning & Zoning Commission that the Husky Howl proposal would place a roughly 150‑megawatt solar array and 50‑megawatt battery storage facility on leased private land north of Hog Hollow Road near Drummond. Green said an interconnection study and site evaluation guided the project's preliminary size and that transmission upgrades at the Drummond/nearby substations will likely be required for full delivery.

Green described environmental studies completed or underway — cultural resource review, wetland delineation (no mapped wetlands within the proposed footprint), avian and big‑game surveys — and said the layout was adjusted to avoid identified resources. He told commissioners the design includes a designated big‑game corridor to preserve winter migration routes and setback buffers from a recorded red‑tailed hawk nest, and that porous aggregate internal roads and downward‑shielded lighting are part of planned mitigation measures.

On battery safety and site operations, Green said the 50‑MW storage would be containerized and monitored 24/7; modern designs rely on thermal and electrical monitoring, spacing between units to limit cascade thermal events, and protocols coordinated with local fire districts. He told the commission that ‘‘we’re designing spacing and monitoring so that a thermal event on one container does not propagate to adjacent units’’ (Mark Green). The company also proposed a decommissioning plan with periodic cost updates and a financial assurance (bond or irrevocable letter of credit) to guarantee removal and site restoration at end of life.

Commissioners pressed for specifics. Chair JC Siddoway and others asked about who would hold financial responsibility if an operator defaulted; Green said the project offers bonds and long‑term contractual protections and that typical practice is to require a financial assurance mechanism tied to a regularly updated decommissioning cost estimate. Green estimated county revenues under Idaho’s in‑lieu formula (solar projects historically remitted roughly 3.5% of gross revenues to counties) and provided an illustrative figure for a smaller example to give commissioners scale: ‘‘we did a back‑of‑envelope that looked like roughly $240,000 per year for a 100 MW example’’ (Mark Green).

Staff and the applicant agreed on next steps: additional agency coordination (Fish & Game, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, DEQ and Fall River power stakeholders), refinement of the plan set and a Development Agreement that will specify conditions, bonds and monitoring before any public hearing before the County Commissioners. No land‑use approvals were made at the Planning & Zoning meeting.

The project’s key unresolved points going into environmental review and the public hearing are the exact transmission upgrades and costs, the final battery chemistry and detailed fire‑response planning with North Fremont Fire District Number Two, and the final amount and form of financial assurance for decommissioning and recycling/disposal of panels and battery materials.