Travis County Commissioners Court has approved in principal a 20-year, 80% tax rebate with RRE Austin Solar LLC, an investment consortium seeking to invest $200 million over three to four years on a 60 MW solar power production facility in northeastern Travis County. At the time of completion the facility will be the largest in the southwestern United States. The location selected is in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Pflugerville and in the Elgin Independent School District. The site is attractive for this kind of facility because of its size, proximity to transmission lines and a power substation, and its relatively limited grade variance and absence of barriers to the south (i.e., trees or buildings).
I support this project (named Project Helios) for preferential tax treatment. I do not support preferential tax treatment when offered to all comers under one-size-fits-all formulas. But, when a tailored incentive serves a specific regional goal as this one does, preferential tax treatment can be an effective tool. This project addresses long-expressed economic and policy goals of our region. Travis County, the State of Texas, and our nation have expressed a preference for developing green technology industries as a necessary component of our economic and environmental well-being. Although solar power is currently expensive to produce, it is certainly a component in our future energy supply. Incentives like our award to this project have the potential to tip the balance, making solar less expensive for future generations in need of domestically produced, clean energy.
The developers of Project Helios, NEPC India Ltd. and Powertech, have been in operation for over 25 years. They are one of the world’s largest manufacturers of 250 KW wind turbines and operate more than 1 GW of electricity production facilities worldwide. This will be the developers’ first project in the US.
Travis County currently receives approximately $741 per year from the agricultural land identified for Project Helios. With the construction of the solar array, the property would lose its agricultural exemption and the County could receive as much as $362,000 per year in property taxes before rebate. After the 80% rebate the County will receive approximately $72,400 in annual property taxes.
Project Helios does not fit the traditional mold for an economic development incentive. It will not have a substantial direct impact on employment – it will create only several hundred temporary construction jobs, and less than 5 permanent jobs. It will also require very little publicly funded infrastructure – it requires no road infrastructure, water or wastewater service improvements. However, it will provide a dramatic increase in available renewable energy resources and establish our region as fertile ground for green technology jobs.
