Linn County to weigh Coggon solar project in January

The three dates for the Linn County Board of Supervisors to review and consider a utility-scale solar project near Coggon have been officially scheduled.

All three meetings on Coggon Solar LLC’s application will take place next month, with the first on Jan. 10. The others will be Jan. 13 and Jan. 18.

The meetings will start at 6 p.m. at the Linn County Fairgrounds.

The decision to deny or approve the project may be made at any of the three meetings, a county news release said. However, a final approval cannot occur until all three readings of the application have happened. In contrast, a majority vote to reject the application would negate the need for future meetings.

The 750-acre utility-scale solar project — about three miles west of Coggon — is a proposed facility and partnership between Idaho-based Clenera and Central Iowa Power Cooperative.

In April, Clenera and CIPCO announced a power purchase agreement for Coggon Solar. The Coggon solar farm would be the second solar agreement with Clenera, after the completion of a 100-megawatt project in Louisa County in southeast Iowa.

The companies already have signed long-term leases with property owners in the area to obtain the land required for the project, their application states. The land currently is used for farming.

Coggon Solar filed its application for the project in July, calling for a facility that can generate 100 megawatts for 35 years.

The property is south of Linn-Delaware Road, north of Hutchinson Road, west of Quality Road and east of Sutton Road.

All utility-scale solar projects in Linn County require an application to rezone the area to be used for the solar installation to a “Renewable Energy Overlay Zoning District.”

The project already has gone through the technical review committee, which happened last month, and was recommended for denial by the county’s planning and zoning committee in a 6-1 vote.

The application includes an agricultural impact mitigation plan, vegetation management plan and a decommissioning plan that addresses how the solar panels would be salvaged. According to the application, the panels will be recycled or sold on the secondary market after the project is decommissioned.

In addition, the county has requested a minimum setback of 300 feet from all other properties with residences.

Construction on the project is expected to last less than a year and would aim to begin in March. Construction would require a monthly average of 100 to 200 employees, according to the application.

Once built, the project would be operated remotely, though a maintenance employee or contractor would be on-site at times.

Comments: (319) 398-8255; gage.miskimen@thegazette.com