More than 100 county residents turned out for a town hall meeting in Shepherdstown on July 1. All except 3 of the speakers spoke against the proposed tax abatment for the Wild Hill solar project.
During the June 27 regular meeting of the Jefferson County Commission, representatives from EDF Renewables, a French company that has been planning to develop the Wild Hill solar facility on 800 acres spanning several parcels off Kabletown Road, presented a request for the Commission to enter into a sale and leaseback agreement that would entail the company making fixed payments to the county and the school system for the next four decades instead of paying the regular taxes during that same period. This type of arrangement is described as a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes).
The company requested a quick decision on its request, referencing a deadline they had to make additional investments in the project to satisfy the requirements of the electric grid operator (PJM Interconnection). Several of the commissioners expressed concern about the timeline.
Following the June 27 meeting, commissioners James Cook and Kelvin Upson (both serving temporary appointments on the Commission pending a final resolution of the judicial process that removed commissioners Tricia Jackson and Jennifer Krouse on May 1) announced they would be holding a town hall meeting on July 1 to hear what residents had to say about the PILOT agreement. That meeting drew a large crowd. Other than representatives for the company and one of the landowners who had agreed to lease a portion of his property for the project, every speaker was against granting the PILOT agreement.
At the July 11 meeting, the Commission had a further discussion of EDF’s PILOT request and voted unanimously to reject it. The company representatives who spoke at the meetings had previously indicated that a “no” vote would mean that the company would not be proceeding with the project, but the company has not responded to The Observer’s requests for a specific confirmation of its plans for the proposed project.
By Steve Pearson