A small 1-megawatt community solar project intended to give homeowners and renters in Teton and Lincoln counties a way to save money on electric bills is not dead, said the new CEO of Lower Valley Energy, the electric cooperative that has been trying to move the project forward.
Rather, the co-op that serves customers in Lincoln and Teton counties, including Jackson, is taking a step back to clearly communicate the significance and implications of the proposed project.
Co-op members would be invited to buy shares of the solar farm and then receive credit on their bills for the amount of electricity that their panel produces. The project could power anywhere from 200 to 500 homes.
Lower Valley Energy CEO Bear Prairie told Cowboy State Daily that the company needs to do a better job communicating to its total co-op membership how the proposed solar project could be a “win-win” for the energy co-op and its customers.
Prairie, who took over as the co-op’s CEO in January, also said he has been working hard to dispel misinformation around perceived threats of solar power, such as the notion that broken solar panels could release toxins into the ground water.
The proposed tiny solar project has drawn scrutiny and confusion from multiple sides. One common complaint is that the project would be built in Lincoln County to benefit Jackson residents.
“It’s not a Jackson solar project,” Prairie said. “It’s a Lower Valley Energy project.”
Another is that because the project is no longer proceeding on leased private land in Lincoln County as initially planned, it’s not happening.
Seeking A State Land Lease
Prairie confirmed with Cowboy State Daily that LVE has identified state land south of Thayne in Lincoln County for a potential project buildout.
The land, up to 14 acres, is near a garbage dump in an industrial area of the county, which the state uses for grazing, he said.
Melissa Turley, executive director of Teton County Energy Conservation Works (TCECW) said the project requires about seven acres for the actual solar panels.
TCECW is a joint powers board with representation from the town of Jackson, Teton County, Lower Valley Energy and residents that has partnered with LVE on the project.
The additional land would largely be a buffer zone, she said.
“We want to stress this is a small project,” Turley said.
It is so small that the Industrial Siting Division and the Department of Environmental Quality won’t even look at it, she said.
“When we pivoted to that as a solution, a lot of the people in the room viewed it as a positive alternative,” Prairie told Cowboy State Daily.
However, at another public meeting hosted by LVE about the new proposed project site, people expressed opposition, Prairie said, adding that when he came in as CEO just as those concerns were boiling over.
Discussions ranged from opinions that solar causes visual blight to panels potentially contaminating groundwater.
Prairie said he thinks much of the public concern comes from YouTube and hearsay.
“There’s a lot of misinformation that’s out there spinning around on solar projects,” Prairie said, adding that when he came in as CEO of LVE, his goal was to slow things down.
“We’re not moving backward, but we’re also not moving forward,” he said.
He said he wants to listen and understand where people are coming from.
“I have a lot of members say they want this project. I have others saying, ‘I don’t want solar anywhere where I can see it,’” he said. “We are trying to find a site that’s acceptable.”
Permit Withdrawn, Not Denied
The Lincoln County Commission's decision last week to formally withdraw a conditional use permit for the project to proceed on leased private land was at LVE’s request, Prairie told Cowboy State Daily.
That was after commissioners had tabled the permit in response to a meeting that had drawn public outrage and concerns around the potential project.
“The county had also heard from people who were concerned,” Prairie said. “They tabled it to give the public and us more time.”
Prairie said the process was procedural. The conditional use permit was tabled, then it was — at LVE’s request – pulled from consideration.
When LVE pivoted to exploring leasing state land instead of private land, it made sense to withdraw the permit application since LVE did not have a county land deal, Prairie said.
LVE has since applied for a permit with the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments for the piece of state land it is eyeing for the project. The next step is for LVE to finalize the terms of a lease with that office, Prairie said.
But that won’t happen anytime soon.
“I didn’t want to rush through this process and make people feel like they got steamrolled,” Prairie said, adding that, “we’re months out from this.
“Before I move on what the next step is, I’m going to tell our membership what we want to do. Everyone will have an opportunity to be heard,” he said.
Meanwhile, LVE remains open to other possibilities, including other locations if the parcel by the dump doesn’t work out.
Energy Conservation Works Still Involved
Prairie said Energy Conservation Works has been patient and generous as LVE works to find something that meets its members' needs.
Turley told Cowboy State Daily in an email the organization is “still a willing partner” in the project.
She said ECW and LVE conducted a survey of LVE members in 2022 to get a pulse on the co-op members' appetite for community solar.
The survey drew more than 1,000 responses with 36% expressing interest in subscribing to a solar program and 46% saying “maybe.”
LVE and ECW boards committed $1.9 million of Teton County Special Excise Tax money to the project, with Teton County voters’ approval.
That money makes the price of the subscription solar farm favorable for anyone who wants to buy shares, he said.
“It allows people to get a really good price for solar without having to worry about managing their own solar project,” Prairie said.
So far, Turley said, 635 people have expressed interest in participating in the community solar program.
The funding will also lower the cost of energy LVE purchases from the wholesale market, benefitting all co-op members regardless of whether they invest in solar.
Mission: Communication
Prairie continues his mission of communicating facts and potential directions regarding the community solar project.
While Prairie said he wants to hear public concern, he also wants to provide good, factual information.
“Let’s clearly communicate with our members and the communities on what solar is and how this benefits all of our members,” he said.
He said he intended to address the concerns people have one-by-one, with facts. He does this largely on the LVE website.
“I don’t want people to make decisions on bad information,” he said.
As LVE strives to bring balance back to the conversation, Prairie said he fully acknowledges there will never be 100% approval.
“If success for me was that whatever you build it had better be approved by everybody, we would have no electricity,” he said. "Whatever resource decisions we make, or anything new we build to deliver our energy to our members, we will never have 100% that love it.”
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
