CEO Says Plan For Wyoming’s First Subscription-Based Solar Project Isn’t Dead

A plan to build Wyoming’s first subscription-based solar project is on hold, but not dead, says Lower Valley Energy’s new CEO. The electric cooperative that serves customers in Lincoln and Teton counties, including Jackson, is stepping back to clearly communicate the significance and implications of the proposed project before moving forward.

Co-op members would be invited to buy shares of the solar farm and receive credit on their bills for the amount of electricity their panel produces. The 1-megawatt project could power anywhere from 200 to 500 homes. CEO Bear Prairie told Cowboy State Daily that the company needs to do a better job communicating how the project could be a “win-win” for the co-op and its customers. He has been working to dispel misinformation, including the notion that broken solar panels could release toxins into groundwater.

The project has drawn scrutiny from multiple sides. One common complaint is that it would be built in Lincoln County to benefit Jackson residents. “It’s not a Jackson solar project,” Prairie said. “It’s a Lower Valley Energy project.” Another concern is that because the project is no longer proceeding on leased private land, it is not happening.

Prairie confirmed that LVE has identified state land south of Thayne in Lincoln County for a potential buildout. The land, up to 14 acres, is near a garbage dump in an industrial area. Melissa Turley, executive director of Teton County Energy Conservation Works (TCECW), which has partnered with LVE on the project, said the project requires about seven acres for the panels; the additional land would be a buffer zone. “We want to stress this is a small project,” she said. It is so small that the Industrial Siting Division and the Department of Environmental Quality will not even review it.

The Lincoln County Commission’s decision last week to formally withdraw a conditional use permit for the project on leased private land was at LVE’s request, Prairie said. When LVE pivoted to exploring state land, it made sense to withdraw the permit application since LVE did not have a county land deal. LVE has since applied for a permit with the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments for the piece of state land it is eyeing. Prairie said he did not want to rush the process. “I didn’t want to rush through this process and make people feel like they got steamrolled,” he said. “We’re months out from this. Before I move on what the next step is, I’m going to tell our membership what we want to do. Everyone will have an opportunity to be heard.”

LVE and ECW boards committed $1.9 million of Teton County Special Excise Tax money to the project, approved by Teton County voters. That money makes the price of subscription solar favorable. So far, Turley said, 635 people have expressed interest in participating in the program. Prairie said he wants to address concerns one by one with facts on the LVE website. “I don’t want people to make decisions on bad information,” he said. “If success for me was that whatever you build it had better be approved by everybody, we would have no electricity.”