County hears timeline and compliance update for proposed battery storage project

On Zoom, Cody updated the commission on the proposed battery storage project and shared several near-term milestones.

Cody said the county-reviewed road-use agreement was sent for executive execution and that decommissioning-security amounts were increased in response to reviewer feedback; he expected that decommissioning security would be executed by the 18th. He also noted a Pratt County name typo on the certificate of insurance would be corrected before filing. "Starting Thursday of this week is when we'll start having some of our our team members from the battery construction team arriving out in Brack County," Cody said, describing staging and initial site work.

Project managers completed a ground preconstruction inspection; documentation of road-condition baseline data has been collected for future comparisons. Cody said initial on-site activities in late June will focus on erosion control and clearing/grubbing to allow civil work to follow. He reported that battery deliveries shifted from early September to late September or early October but that the overall schedule is currently slated through April 2027. Commissioners and staff discussed the road-use performance period (typically 12 months), with plans to refresh security if construction runs longer than one year.

County staff and the project team agreed to circulate final documents and invites for a June 23 preconstruction kickoff meeting and to introduce construction managers to the commission staff before major mobilization.