Developer: Madison County Solar Farm Project in Jeopardy
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA proposed $110 million solar farm in Madison County appears to be in jeopardy as the developer, Illinois-based Invenergy LLC, is signaling it may pull out of the project.
According to our partners at The Herald Bulletin, Invenergy officials said the defeat of a requested tax abatement by the Madison County Council could make the proposed solar farm financially impossible.
The council voted this week to deny the request for a 10-year tax abatement for the Lone Oak Solar Energy Center.
“We’re evaluating all our options,” Katya Samoteskul, project manager for the Lone Oak Solar Energy Center, told the newspaper following the vote. “This is a bad sign for the project.”
The proposed $110 million project would generate 120 megawatts of electricity in northern Madison County, Invenergy officials said.
Samoteskul said the Lone Oak Solar Energy Center would be competing with renewable energy resources nationwide to provide electrical power and the reduced cost through the tax abatement was necessary.
Company officials said the 10-year tax abatement would have saved the company $5 million in personal property taxes over the 10 years, according to The Herald Bulletin.