WILLIAMS, CA (95955) – The Colusa County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will be asked to reconsider a large solar energy project proposed along Spring Valley Road, about 6.5 miles west of Williams.
Both the planning commission and the board of supervisors rejected the Janus Solar project last year, against the recommendation of their Community Development Department, on the grounds that it did not comply with the “intent” of the county’s General Plan, which recommends taking all appropriate measures to restrict the conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses.
Planning commissioners specifically disapproved a solar project at that site, citing it could put people and livestock at risk of a wildland fire.
“One of the problems I have is putting a potential ignition source in such a high fire danger area,” Commissioner Kirk Pendleton said. “It’s different down here in a rice field, where, through most of the fire season, it is surrounded with rain-grown vegetation as compared to a fire danger area along the base of those foothills.”
A modified Janus Solar project, now 14% smaller than what was originally proposed, was introduced to the planning commission at a special meeting on Oct. 29.
Both the planning commission and board of supervisors are expected to vote on whether to issue RWE/Janus Solar a conditional use permit before the end of the year, as well as approve a development agreement with the county, officials said.
Janus Solar has submitted a new conditional use permit application for the power generating facility, which could store 80 megawatts of electricity and store up to 320 megawatt hours of electricity on approximately 886 acres.
“Only an estimated 666 acres of that site would actually be used,” said Community Development Director Greg Plucker.
The purpose of last week’s meeting was to receive comments from the public and commissioners on the draft Environmental Impact Report before a final is brought back for their consideration.
Stephen Marsh, owner of the adjoining property, vehemently opposed the battery storage facility located just before the Cortina Reservation and suggested it be moved elsewhere in the county, officials said.
Although there has not been wide opposition to solar farming as a source of revenue, the Janus Solar project is not popular with its neighbor.
“I’m not against the project,” Stephen Marsh said. “I’m against a project that’s in a valley, with a one-way road going in and only one way out.”
Rex Fevero, the owner of the non-irrigated farmland where the project will be located, said his family has been in Colusa County since the 1960s and have been good stewards of the land.
“In all those years, we have vastly improved the property and its possibility, all within the constraints of zoning and the Colusa County General Plan…We consider that producing electricity is the optimum choice for us and the county on this piece of ground. It’s no surprise that the Golden State of California leads the nation in solar power. It generates 26% of the state’s electricity. California has a goal that it needs to achieve 100% clean energy by 2045, and we chose to legally be a part of that solution – and we invite the board to do the same.”
Fevero asked the commission to consider the facts of the project and not just emotion.
Janus Solar could have gone directly to the California Public Utility Commission for permitting, which – under a 2022 law approved by the California Legislature – allows state authorities to bypass local ordinances in permitting large-scale renewable energy projects, but Project Manager Alex Solas said the company wanted to take the feedback they received from the first process and work directly with the county to improve the project.
“I can confidently say that we have achieved that,” said Solas, who has been working with the county’s ad hoc committee since February.
Solas said the revised proposal not only reduces the size of the project’s footprint but increases safety measures, such as the addition of a water storage tank.
Janus Solar will also own and operate the project through the 35-year useful life of the equipment, providing jobs and contributing to the local economy, he said.
“During those 35 years, we intend to be a partner to this community; we intend to be a good neighbor, and, after those 35 years, we intend to decommission the project fully, restoring the land to its current state and returning it to its current landowner.
The Janus Solar project, if approved, will have an estimated $30 million community benefit over the project’s life, compared to approximately $360,000 the county would collect in property taxes while it is enrolled in the subsidized Williamson Act program.
Proponents for the project said that given the county’s budgetary crisis, the county has an obligation to consider all new sources of revenue, including the renewable energy project because it is a non-permanent alternative use of marginalized and non-irrigated farmland.
Colusa County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jack Cunningham said his board of directors is in unanimous support of the project.
“We feel it is not only going to be a good neighbor but will bring a lot of benefit to the communities, not only with the tax bases but through their participation,” Cunningham said.
Colusa resident Denise Conrado also spoke in favor of the project for both its economic benefit to the county and for the environmental impact.
“This project will help the state meet its renewable energy requirements, and there is going to be more and more demand for electricity… Conrado said. “It sounds like a doable project without a lot of stress on the environment.”
While Solas brought team members to last week’s planning commission meeting to address fire safety, Amanda Ferrini and her grandmother, Jean Terkildsen, matriarch to the family whose property adjoins the proposed site, said they are unwavering in their opposition to the project, not only because of the fire danger, but because it could devalue their adjoining agriculture property and remove ag land from the Williamson Act for commercial and industrial use.
“Our concerns have not changed,” Terkildsen said.