Controversy sparked among Humboldt County Commissioners at the regular meeting on May 2, at which they discussed the approval or rejection of a letter of support of the Iron Point Solar LLC tax abatement application to the Governor’s office. The commissioners were split 3-2 in favor of approval, with all members present and with Commissioner Tom Hoss and Commissioner Ron Cerri in objection.
NV Energy has commissioned Primergy Solar, out of Oakland. Calif., to build a solar facility spanning 2,700 acres in Valmy (30 miles west of Winnemucca), according to Conditional Use Permits filed with the county by Primergy. NV Energy’s website confirms that the facility will replace NV Energy’s last coal-powered plant, the North Valmy Generation Station. Primergy has since submitted applications for tax abatements and was seeking recommendation of approval from the county commissioners.
The approved letter will notify the Director of the Governor’s Office of Energy, David Bobzien, that the board has considered the Iron Point LLC application submitted by Primergy for partial tax abatement and recommends approval of the application.
The partial tax abatement is essentially a reduction in the amount of property tax Primergy will pay on the new construction.
According to Harley MacDonald, a representative of Primergy Solar present who joined the meeting via web-call, the project will cost $770 million and generate $41 million of property taxes within its projected 30-year life span.
Over this amount of time the amount of expenditures subject to abatement will be approximately $331,545,000 and the approximate amount abated will be $6,630,900, according to the Iron Point LLC tax abatement application.
The recommendation of denial or approval for the tax abatement application was discussed at a previous county commission meeting on April 18, but was tabled because the board felt that they were not provided with enough information about the consequences to taxpayers.
Although they requested more information, Primergy did not provide it at or before the May 2 meeting and the board was faced with only two options in regards to the letter, as well as a time restraint.
According to Deputy District Attorney Wendy Maddox, legally, the board could only deny approval for the application under two scenarios according to NRS 701A.365, 2 (b) which states : 1) the projected cost of services that the local government is required to provide to the facility will exceed the amount of tax revenue that the local government is projected to receive as a result of the abatement; or 2) the projected facility financial benefits that will result to the county from employment by the facility of the residents of this State and from capital investments by the facility in the county will not exceed the projected loss of tax revenue that will result from the abatement.
The Iron Point tax abatement application also states that if the county commissioners do not approve or deny the application within 30 days of receiving the application, it will be considered approved by the Director of Energy.
According to Maddox, the board received the application on April 5, which meant that the matter could not be tabled again, despite Primergy’s failure to provide the requested information. Additionally, the $41 million in tax revenue does not deem the facility a financial burden to the county.
Commissioner Jim French addressed Humboldt County Assessor Andy Heiser, looking for answers about the net revenues for the project.
According to Heiser, the definitive numbers are uncertain, even at the state level.
“I did reach out to the Department of Taxation Centrally Assessed Division to find out if I could get a monetary value for that and they were not able to give me any of that,” said Heiser.
French asked, “How in the world is the county commission supposed to make that decision if we don’t have that data? There’s a huge chunk of the revenue side of this thing that we have no idea of how it will end up. The ability to weigh in on this has been taken away from us.”
The Iron Point facility, which will be constructed and finished in 2023, will consist of a 250-megawatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system with 200-megawatts of battery storage incorporated into the structure, according to NV Energy’s website. The Hot Pot Solar project, which will be constructed and finished by 2024, will operate with 350-megawatts of solar PV and 280-megawatts of battery power storage. The facilities will have a combined capacity of 600-megawatts and 480-megawatts of battery storage capacity, which NV Energy says will be able to power 127,000 homes. The complete solar farm project will be among the largest in the nation.
Although the letter to the Governor’s office was ultimately approved, the board expressed significant reproach about the inadequacy of the provided information.