State's largest solar farm pitched to Nixa

Nixa city officials are weighing the pros and cons of working with a solar development company that wants to build a 7.92-megawatt solar farm in Christian County – billed as the largest solar farm in the state.

On Feb. 5, O’Fallon-based solar developer Solexus Development LLC submitted a 47-page proposal to Nixa City Council asking the city to enter into a 25-year power-purchase agreement.

Solexus proposes developing a solar farm on land leased for an undisclosed amount from state Sen. Jay Wasson, R-Nixa. After initial connection fees of an estimated $185,000, the city wouldn’t incur additional upfront costs, but it would be tied to buying the power the solar farm would produce.

According to the proposal, the 34,000 solar panels manufactured by North Carolina-based Strata Solar would be installed on 72 acres of Wasson’s land at 1586 W. Mt. Vernon St. in Christian County. Its projected annual output of 15.2 million kilowatt-hours is estimated to save the city $11 million through the course of the contract. The city would be charged 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour in the first year, with rates escalating by 2.5 percent annually to 11.8 cents per kwh.

Solexus President David Bunge said city officials are reviewing the solar plan with a third-party consultant, Springfield-based Toth and Associates Inc. “We’ve made the proposal and City Council has given the city administrator its blessing to go into some further due diligence,” Bunge said of the cost-benefit analysis underway. “We certainly anticipate that findings would be favorable toward the project.”

Bunge said the solar power generated by the farm could cover the annual energy needs of roughly 1,600 residents out of some 20,000 in the city. He said the company’s savings estimate was based on city data projecting electricity cost increases to 18 cents per kwh in 2038.

“Our proposal provides the city a hedge that locks in a significant portion of their usage at a predictable and competitive rate,” Bunge said.

Nixa Public Works Director Doug Colvin said he expects results of the cost-benefit analysis to be presented at council’s March 5 meeting.

“City Council is interested in it. If there is a possibility that we can bring some green power into town and save our customers some money, whether that be immediately or over the long-term, certainly, it wants to consider that,” Colvin said. “Those are the questions we need to answer.”

Nixa Mayor Sam Clifton said the prospect of the city landing the state’s largest solar farm is exciting, but he and other council members are guarded against potential pitfalls. For example, he said peak time for solar collection is 1-2 p.m., but peak time for energy use is 5-6 p.m.

“We’ve got to figure out if we can store that energy,” Clifton said. “We might say, ‘We’ll do it if we can have batteries to store the solar power,’ because that’s the benefit of doing this.”

Bunge said storage is not common, and storing power could add to the city’s expenses.

Additionally, Clifton said he is concerned Solexus’ connection cost estimate could rise.

Nixa officials are seeking evidence the project would reduce residents’ utility bills, he said.

“I think the citizens understand that we are doing our due diligence to see if this would work. But having Missouri’s largest solar farm – I do think that would be a neat thing for Nixa,” Clifton said.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, solar production is on the rise but expected to account for only 0.4 percent of total U.S. electricity generation by 2015. Last month, St. Louis-area utility provider Ameren Missouri announced plans to build a 5.7-megawatt solar farm in O’Fallon.

Wasson, who declined to disclose the value of the proposed land-lease with Solexus, said he became involved because his property is across the street from a substation owned by the federal Southwest Power Administration. Bunge said Solexus approached Wasson, and his position as a state lawmaker had nothing to do with the lease deal that’s contingent upon the city’s buy-in.

“Nixa is one of the few cities that owns a distribution system. We don’t make power, but we can buy power from whoever we wish,” Wasson said, adding the city has long leaned on buying power off the grid, though today it gets most of its power from City Utilities of Springfield. “But Nixa grew so much that the allotment they’d get from SPA became a fraction of what it needed. However, the substation was still there, the power lines were still there, so it was just one of those things where everything was in the right place.”

Currently, Wasson uses the land to produce hay.

“It’s a good deal for me; it’s a good deal for the city; and it’s a good deal for the solar company. I don’t see a downside for anybody,” Wasson said, noting an upside is utilizing a renewable source because it makes economic sense – not because of other pressures, such as government mandates.

Should Nixa decide to move forward, it would follow the lead of CU.

In September, Solexus entered into a power-purchase agreement to develop a 4.95-megawatt solar farm on 40 acres CU owns just east of Springfield. Bunge said construction on CU’s solar farm should begin soon.

“We are wrapping up the zoning and permitting process and the final design. That should be wrapped up in the next few weeks, and we are ready to start construction next month,” Bunge said, noting construction should be complete by July.

If Nixa officials approve the project, the solar site could be operational by early 2015, he said.[[In-content Ad]]