Lower Valley Energy continues to look for land to place a small 1 MV solar farm after withdrawing their permit application with Lincoln County to build on school trust land south of Thayne. The energy co-op is still considering the site near the landfill on Strawberry Road, but decided to withdraw the county permit as the State Land and Investment Board (SLIB) has not yet finalized or approved the terms of a lease on the land.

“SLIB is working through the terms of the lease. We’re near the end of that. Then the next step would be to go to the state land board and ask for that lease in those terms to be approved,” explained Lower Valley Energy’s President and CEO Bear Prairie during a live interview on SVI Radio. “At the same time though, we don’t want to run ahead of the community on all this. I think there is, and rightfully so, some concerns that we’ve been moving a little faster than we should as far as getting in front of local residents.”

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Prairie acknowledged that while they go through the approval process, they continue to look for alternative locations.

“We’re trying to find that win-win location. But I want to be clear, we’re not backing away from the state land either. There are a lot of people that support solar and want to participate in this community solar project. So it’s not all one-sided.”

Lower Valley Energy is looking at potential sites outside of Star Valley, including Teton County. However no alternative sites have been publicly identified other than the current location south of Thayne.

“We’re looking hard in Teton County,” continued Prairie. “A lot of people have said ‘Why is a Teton County project being built in Lincoln County?’ and I want to be clear, it’s a Lower Valley Energy project and there are supporters and people that want this also in Lincoln County. We’re going to site projects where it makes the most economic and operational sense across our service territory.”

Prairie said as the project moves forward he intends to be open and involve the community in the process, including letting members and residents know when they are scheduled to meet with the SLIB board, which would be the next step in the process for the state land option. He also plans to hold additional open houses to listen to concerns and answer questions.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there around this project,” continued Prairie. “And we want people, whether they’re in favor or not, to at least be making decisions from a fact-based standpoint.”

The proposed project would sit on seven acres with additional acreage set aside for vegetation landscaping.

In the radio interview Prairie also discussed the subscription model for solar power, if solar power is effective in the area and the economic impacts to Lower Valley Energy. The full interview can also be found on SVI Media’s Podcast channel on Spotify, Amazon Music and Podbean.