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Commissioners debate revised solar‑farm fee schedule; staff recommends $1.50/kW plus transformer fees
Summary
After correcting an initial calculation, county staff proposed charging $1.50 per kilowatt plus $100 per transformer and an $850 plan-review fee for commercial solar farms; commissioners debated whether fees should be higher to discourage projects or kept 'reasonable' to avoid statutory challenge and agreed to gather actual inspection cost data and revisit in December.
County inspections and planning staff presented a revised fee schedule for commercial solar farms after an earlier draft produced an unrealistically high total. Staff said the corrected approach charges $1.50 per kilowatt of capacity, $100 per transformer, and a fixed $850 plan-review fee; for the Bear Branch project (about 43,660 kW and 13 transformers) staff estimated a permit near $67,000.
Commissioners discussed whether higher fees could act as a disincentive but were reminded that state law requires fees be reasonably tied to county costs and could be challenged if excessive. Several commissioners asked for actual cost-tracking from the current large project so the board can set a defensible, evidence-based fee schedule in December. Staff agreed to collect inspection-time and resource data from the ongoing project and return with audited actuals before final adoption.
