Centroplex News

On Oct. 12, the Troy Independent School District (TISD) unanimously green-lighted an agreement, with consultation firm McDowell School Finance Consulting LLC, to examine the $20 million appraised value limitation application by Big Elm Solar for a proposed 3,000-acre solar panel project in Bell County.

In KDH News coverage of the board meeting, Monty Humble, managing director of solar farm director High Road Clean Energy, said that only 1,400 of the farm's 3,000 acres will have the 18-foot solar panels installed. 

In a public hearing, TISD officials heard the concerns of many residents in attendance, including Dr. Jim Killian, a Bell County native and neurologist based in Houston. 

Killian told Centroplex News that he is worried the solar farm would change the whole complexity of the Bell County area. 

"The solar companies follow each other, and other companies follow them," Killian said. "Once they get an abatement, once they get an area declared as an investment area...you notice, they named this area [for the solar farm] 'investment area one.' So there is going to be investment areas numbers two, three, so on."

The Bell County resident feels that while the farmland surrounding Troy may be perfect for development with the cleared land, farmers are put in a difficult position when considering the offer. With the average farmer struggling economically, Killian said farmers are preyed upon for any kind of pay-off. 

"It makes [farmers] change their mind quickly compared to if they had a good income from their farming," said Killian. 

He doesn't want to see the beautiful area of central Texan farmland he's familiar with completely erased and turned into an industrial park. 

Killian said he understands that the potential income flux for the public school puts TISD officials in a difficult position, but that it's uncertain whether solar farms will sustain themselves when the subsidies come to an end and whether a tax will be added to residents' utility bills for the solar farms once the subsidy runs dry. 

According to the KDH article, the solar farm will have a 30-year lifespan. Big Elm Solar's contract with Bell County requires at least 180 megawatts of electricity each year starting in March 2022. 

The environmental benefits of solar farms are questionable, Killian said. He doubts how well the land will hold up to the panels; the earth, frequently drying out and cracking, often can't support telephone poles and is susceptible to tornadoes. 

"Solar farms don't save the environment," he said, noting articles in Europe that state solar panels can't be disposed of in regular landfills once they're dysfunctional.

Overall, Killian feels the solar farm will only benefit its investors. He stated that the owner of the solar farm has admitted it can sell out after three years, or declare bankruptcy without being sued. 

KDH reported that the solar farm projected is projected to bring in more than $186 million in developments to the Bell County region after acquiring a county tax abatement in July. 

Killian, who farms and raises cattle on 700 acres of Bell County land, said he doesn't have a problem with tax abatements that do good things for the area and do not cost more down the road. but this is one he won't be participating in. 

"It would be easy to sell out and take the money and go somewhere, but it's not easy to reproduce a farm," Killian said. "I could make money off of this if I wanted to eliminate the farming, but I came because because it's a good farming area."