Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy Projects topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ellis County approves road-use agreement for Soul Marina solar project after public safety concerns
Summary
After public commenters urged a moratorium on battery energy storage and related projects, Ellis County Commissioners approved a road-use agreement with Soul Marina Energy Center LLC covering 3.6 miles of county road usage and accepting a developer bond; one commissioner recused.
Ellis County Commissioners approved a road-use agreement with Soul Marina Energy Center LLC that requires the developer to post a bond to cover potential road damage from construction traffic on a 3.6-mile stretch of county road.
At the hearing, resident Lacey Hammel told the court she and other residents “respectfully ask the Ellis commissioner's court to enact a temporary moratorium on the permitting approval, construction expansion, tax abatements, reinvestment zones, economic incentives, and development agreements related to battery energy storage systems, utility scale solar facilities, wind energy projects, associated transmission infrastructure, [and] data center infrastructure” until safety and legal reviews are finished. David Lowe raised national-security and fire-safety concerns and asked the court to require disclosure of manufacturers and UL testing documentation for energy-storage components.
County staff clarified the road-use item was limited to a developer-funded bond for potential post-construction road repairs and that the project under consideration does not include battery storage units. The court recorded a recusal (one commissioner said the project “wraps around my house”), and the motion to approve passed with four votes in favor and one abstention (recusal).
