Community voices concern, questions at solar farm meeting

A group of over 50 concerned citizens gathered at the BHS auditorium on the evening of January 24 to hear from representatives of Pine Gate Renewables, the company who has proposed construction of a solar farm on ranchland off State Hwy 3240, during a public meeting held as an information session about the project.

A brief slide presentation mentioned the company had two sites under construction in Texas but had 100 farms operating, 12 in the building process and 125 under development across the United States.

If built, Bandera’s site would be able to produce enough electricity to power 23,000 homes annually, although the power produced would not necessarily be designated to go to Bandera residents.

Power produced by the Montague Solar Facility would flow into ERCOT to be distributed across Texas.

Following the presentation, Senior Manager Alan M. Hancock opened the floor for questions.

When asked why Bandera County was chosen for a solar facility, Hancock answered it was near a need for power and had convenient infrastructure in the form of transmission lines necessary to support the facility.

Audience members expressed concern the location of the site for the facility was located on historic ranch land and would become an eyesore in the community.

Hancock mentioned the construction of buffers to help shelter scenic vistas.

The participants questioned the use of a “313” tax abatement agreement which would reduce local tax revenues. Hancock emphasized that Bandera Independent School District (BISD) would realize direct payments over an extended period that would not be subject to state recapture. As a “Robin Hood” district, BISD must return some of its locally collected property tax revenues to the state to be distributed to property poor school districts.

Several questions were posed about the country of manufacture for the solar panels to be used in the project. Hancock answered the country of origin could not be determined yet but renewable energy resources had global markets which produced many of the materials needed to construct the solar farm. He said he could not guarantee any materials would be strictly American made, except for the steel used to build the framework for the panels.

Hancock did say that the company would replant two trees for every tree removed from the property. He also mentioned grass would be seeded in the facility to ensure that soil damage did not occur. It was Pine Gate’s goal to restore the site to the same level of pastureland as before the project began. In fact, the one job guaranteed to be created by the project would be an onsite landscaper.

Following a question regarding testing of soil and water quality on the site, Hancock assured the group soil and water testing would occur routinely and be reported on the company’s website. No archeological surveys were slated to be done on the property.

In this same vein, many people in the crowd asked questions about the disposition or recycling of the construction materials when those materials reached the end of their useful life.

Hancock reiterated it was customary for a decommissioning bond to be established to ensure that end use recycling and clean up would take place. He added the average lifespan for the panels slated to be used inthis project was between 25 and 35 years, although panels could be replaced sooner if they did not prove efficient. Several audience members directly stat

Several audience members directly stated the project would not be welcome in Bandera County and suggested it be moved to another location not known for its scenic features. The crowd’s sentiments were decidedly negative. No person in the crowd spoke favorably about the project.

Hancock addressed the issue of Pine Gate’s parent company, stating Pine Gate was a privately owned company based in Asheville, North Carolina, and is not associated with any foreign firm in Spain or anywhere else.

The group seemed particularly frustrated Pine Gate could not provide more specific information on the engineering or design of the facility.

Hancock replied that at this stage of the game, no investors were yet designated or design/engineering plans made. He stated this was strictly the very beginning of the process and the timeline for the project would stretch through 2023. Hancock stated that no permits to build had been issued yet and the “313” tax abatement agreement would be a strong, but not necessarily a deciding factor in the construction of the solar farm. Members of the audience were very con

Members of the audience were very concerned about how the facility would directly benefit the county and what impact the site would have on the economic and natural environment. Other than the yearly direct payments

Other than the yearly direct payments made to the school district, Hancock could not relate any other benefits, although he did say research has shown location of a solar facility had no appreciable impact on adjacent property values and speculated the final engineering plans would be completed by the fall of 2022.

He also referenced Pine Gate’s web site at www.pinegaterenewables.com/montague-solar/ as the place to obtain information requested during the town hall meeting.