No decisions have been, or will be, made anytime soon on a potential solar farm in Lyon County; however, the topic was the focus of a presentation to Lyon County Commissioners Thursday morning.
During their regular action meeting, commissioners welcomed representatives from Evergy to deliver a presentation on the proposed Cottonwood Solar farm, which Evergy is hoping to build near the Emporia Energy Center in the near future. Leading the presentation was Evergy Director of Development Jason Humphrey, who, during the presentation, stated that Kansas is a prime location for these types of projects, ranking in the top 10 states according to the Energy Information Administration.
According to Humphrey, the project itself, should it move forward to construction, would encompass less than 800 acres and be capable of producing of up to 135 megawatts of energy, which is equivalent, if not slightly more, than two of the current turbines at the Emporia Energy Center. Humphrey also discussed the plans for decommissioning the facility once it reaches its end of life, toxicity concerns, saying all of their materials pass toxicity screenings and can be sent to a normal landfill, and also addressed a rumor that the solar farm project was developed in coordination with the Flint Hills Digital Campus proposal, noting plans for the solar farm date back to 2022.
Much like the presentation to the Regional Development Association of East Central Kansas this past Friday, Thursday’s presentation was purely for education and information-sharing purposes, with no decisions being made on its future. No decisions will be made either until the moratorium on solar facilities, enacted in July, is either ended or expires come December 1.
The moratorium was enacted by the Lyon County Commissioners to allow time to update the county’s zoning regulations for such developments, a process that has been underway for several weeks. During Thursday’s presentation, County Commissioner Chris Bartel acknowledged the work of the County Zoning and Planning Board, saying they have done a great job to this point, before asking Humphrey if he was confident that Evergy would be able to meet the new guidelines and regulations with this project once they are complete.
Humphrey says he has no doubt they will.
Following Thursday’s meeting, KVOE News spoke with commissioners to gauge their thoughts on the potential project. Commission Chairman Ken Duft, who has publicly stated he opposes solar, said Thursday’s conversation, as informative as it was, did little to change his mind.
Commissioner Bartel says he is reserving judgment on the project until he sees a formal proposal.
The moratorium on solar was issued the same day commissioners issued a moratorium on data centers and battery energy storage systems, which is set to sunset on January 22, 2027.
In other business, Thursday, commissioners approved a resolution to establish certain Motor Vehicle fees. Emergency Communications Director Roxanne Van Gundy also submitted two payments for commission approval — almost $7,400 to Axon Enterprise as an addition of services to an existing bill and over $31,000 to Motorola. Both were approved unanimously.
Commissioners will reconvene for their regular action meeting next Thursday at 9 am inside the Lyon County Courthouse Commission Chambers.
