ELGIN — As Comanche County resident Chizum Hale sees it, a solar farm and battery storage system between Elgin and Lawton would be an economic boon for the area.
“This is going to bring a lot of tax revenue to Elgin and surrounding towns,” he said. “A lot more people, a lot more business. It’s going to create some jobs for this area.”
Hale was among a handful of people who attended a July 21 public open house about the proposed Sooner Solar and Storage project at the Elgin Fine Arts Center, located on the Elgin Public Schools campus. The renewable-energy developer Desri hosted the event to educate people about the privately funded project, which is expected to cost about $500 million.
Economic impact The Desri affiliate Hecate Energy Sooner Solar LLC is developing a 500-megawatt solar farm and a 500-megawatt battery energy storage system on a site about five miles southeast of Elgin. The project will also include a step-up substation and a 345-kilovolt generationintertie transmission line.
The permitting phase of the project may be finished by the fourth quarter of this year, according to Hecate’s timeline. The developer expects to begin construction in the spring of 2027, and the project will likely be up and running in 2029.
The project is expected to generate between 550 and 600 constructionrelated jobs, according to the developer. When it is finished, the plant will create up to 14 full-time operations and maintenance jobs across the solar farm and the battery storage system.
The solar farm alone will supply an estimated $90 million to $150 million in property tax revenue for the county’s coffers over the life of the project, said Meghan Knudsen, director of development for Desri.
“It’s a 40-year life,” she said.
Knudsen said Hecate has a contract to sell power for the solar farm but does not have one for the battery storage system yet.
“We’ll feel more comfortable saying we are going to build the battery for sure once we have that contract,” she said.
Knudsen said local businesses will benefit from increased spending during the construction phase, but she did not have an estimate for the potential economic impact of that phase.
Reducing strain Sooner Solar and Storage has secured a large generator interconnection agreement with the Southwest Power Pool to connect with the Public Service Company of Oklahoma’s transmission network between Elgin and Lawton, according to the project’s website, soonersolarproject.com. Power from the facility will connect to PSO’s 345-kilovolt transmission line, where it will be distributed throughout the power grid.
The facility will capture daytime solar energy and store it for use during peak evening demand, according to the website. The goal is to make the grid more reliable, reduce strain and congestion during peak demand times and help keep electricity costs stable for residents. ___
Eric Swanson is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years’ experience covering local government and criminal justice in Oklahoma, North Dakota and Kansas. He can be reached at eric.swanson@ swoknews.com.