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Developer asks Iron County to back 200 MW Appaloosa 2 battery project with tax-increment support
Summary
R Plus Energies outlined a proposed Appaloosa 2 battery project—200 MW battery and optional solar—estimating $145M–$250M in capital and asking the county CRA for a 40% tax-increment rebate; commissioners raised decommissioning, dust control and ownership-transfer concerns.
R Plus Energies presented the Appaloosa 2 proposal to the Iron County Commission on Aug. 11, seeking community reinvestment agency (CRA) support for a battery-centered energy project sited on private land near Lund Highway.
Theresa Foxley, R Plus’s chief of staff, told the commission the project is “at 1st and foremost, a 200 megawatt battery energy storage system project,” and estimated capital costs at about $145 million for the battery alone and up to $250 million if paired with solar. She said the company would seek a tax-increment arrangement, proposing a 40% rebate to the agency to make the project competitive in the market.
Commissioners pressed R Plus on long-term site management, decommissioning and the risk that projects change ownership. One commissioner said the county has seen projects flip ownership and described land-management impacts: “He no longer has the ability to graze that. They’ve gone in and killed all the vegetation, and so now it’s a sand dune that blows out onto the county road,” (speaker 5). Foxley responded that state law from the 2026 legislative session now requires a decommissioning bond and said R Plus would post a bond and could contractually commit to a dedicated county contact and other assurances.
Foxley also estimated local tax outcomes: the battery portion alone would generate far more property tax revenue than the current use (she said the land currently produces about $300 per year). R Plus projected that, under a 40% tax-increment arrangement, the county and other taxing entities could net millions over the life of the project but acknowledged that much of the project’s assessed value will be treated as personal property and depreciate over time.
Commissioners asked staff to continue negotiating terms and to include clear decommissioning and dust-mitigation requirements if the CRA moves forward with an incentive package. No formal CRA approval was taken at the meeting; R Plus said it would return with a negotiated project-area plan and budget for further hearings.
