Board advances amendment to renewable-energy rules to require subcontractor professional liability and tiered pollution limits

The board considered and moved to amend section 153-09 of the Tazewell County Renewable Energy Ordinance to tighten insurance requirements for renewable-energy projects. The motion sought two changes: expand professional-liability language so subcontractors and parties responsible for design and engineering must provide proof of coverage; and set tiered commercial pollution-liability limits tied to facility capacity.

Tim Neuhauser, the county risk manager who spoke for staff, summarized the existing gap: "The existing ordinance really had a 2 sentence paragraph ... that basically said the owner operator or the petitioner needed a commercial general liability policy in the amount of 1000000 dollars. Period." Neuhauser explained that environmental exposures (watershed impacts, debris from tornadoes, fire, herbicide overspray) are typically excluded from general-liability policies and therefore require separate pollution coverage. He told the board staff had discussed industry practice with operators and insurers and that pollution policies are commonly provided.

The amendment proposed tiered pollution-liability minimums: for facilities under 5 megawatts, $5,000,000 per claim/$10,000,000 aggregate; for projects roughly 5–100 megawatts, $10,000,000 per claim/$20,000,000 aggregate; and for facilities above 100 megawatts, $15,000,000 per claim/$30,000,000 aggregate. The motion was presented as a baseline that could be negotiated upward for very large projects during the permitting and contract process.