Another solar project has been approved by the Montezuma County Board of County Commissioners.
Cortez Solar 3 LLC, a subsidiary of OneEnergy Development, was granted a special-use permit Tuesday to construct the Rocky Ford Solar Project, a two-megawatt solar array on Road F.6 south of Cortez.
The project site will occupy about 20 acres of property owned by Fish Bros. Land and Cattle Co. The project was unopposed and complies with the land use code.
The electricity produced by the solar panels will connect directly to Empire Electric Association’s distribution system, and no new electric lines are required on adjoining properties. The applicant anticipates a system that allows the photovoltaic solar panels to slowly rotate from east to west to track the sun.
Empire has agreed to purchase the power, and the electricity produced will be used within the community, according to plan documents.
It is estimated the project will produce 6,000 megawatt hours per year, enough energy to meet the needs of about 450 households annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalency calculator.
Construction is planned for March 2022. An easement from Road G will be utilized to access the site.
The area is zoned as large-scale agricultural and residential. Under a 2015 county resolution, solar farms are a use by right under industrial and agricultural/residential zoned parcels.
“The project will provide locally generated, reliable and low-cost renewable electricity to Empire Electric Association members,” according to plan documents. “The project will increase the assessed value of the property and provide increased property tax revenue for Montezuma County and Colorado.”
No neighbor concerns about the project were reported, according to the planning department.
This is the third large solar project by OneEnergy in Montezuma County that has been approved by the commissioners in the past two years. The other two met some opposition from neighbors.
In July, the commissioners approved Cortez Solar 2, a five-megawatt solar array to be built on 52 acres off County Road 24 northwest of Cortez. Multiple neighbors objected to the project, citing viewshed and property value impacts. Mitigation required that fencing and trees be installed between neighbors and the project.
In August 2020, the commissioners approved Cortez Solar 1, a 2.2 megawatt solar array on Road 29 across from Totten Lake.
The project was opposed by neighbors, and mitigation was required to protect an occupied bald eagle nest in a cottonwood grove near the project footprint.
Panels were moved south to comply with a quarter-mile buffer zone required by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Power purchase agreements for Cortez Solar 1 and Cortez Solar 2 were also made with Empire Electric.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
