County commissioners approve ordinance to help solar project

The Cape Girardeau County Commission approved an ordinance during its regular meeting Thursday, Dec. 28, to help the Lutesville Solar Project in the southern part of the county.

The ordinance reads that the county can issue its taxable industrial revenue bonds, series 2024, in a principal amount not exceeding $300 million to provide funds for the acquisition, construction and installation of the solar project.

The county also can approve a plan for the project and enter into certain agreements and take other actions in connection with the issuance of the bonds.

Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 100 allows municipalities to issue such bonds, paid solely from revenue received from projects, to assist in the projects' creation.

The 1,500-acre solar project is being planned for parcels of land near Delta, bordered by County Road 244 to the north and Highway 25 in the south.

The commissioners hosted a public hearing about the project. Though none of them spoke, about a half-dozen property owners from the area attended to lend their support for the project.

Attorney Mark Grimm with GilmoreBell, who made sure the ordinance complied with Ch. 100, did much of the speaking.

"Without the county doing this, if the project were sold to Ameren or another state-assessed utility, the local taxing districts would receive virtually no dollars from the project because state-assessed utility property is distributed within the entire service area of the utility according to miles of line within a particular county, so the local taxing district would receive only a fraction of the value," Grimm said.

NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of the Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., operates a wind energy center in Missouri and has several other energy endeavors, including the Lutesville Solar Project, in development.

Ch. 100 allows the company to operate with tax certainty for its payments for the 30-year duration of the project, Grimm said.

Because the project is financed through Ch. 100, instead of NextEra paying taxes as assessed, its payments go to schools and fire districts, among other entities, in the area.

"It really is in the best interest for the school and the school district and the area to keep those tax dollars local with that payment schedule out," Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy added. "And it gives certainty to the company. Now they know what their tax liability will be moving forward."