OSWEGO — Electrical power was a topic of discussion last week at the Labette County Commission meeting in Oswego.
Commissioners met with board members of Great Plains Industrial Park, as well as the park’s director, Brad Reams.
The topic included an unnamed industrial prospect that could invest $750 million into a data center at the park and create 150 jobs. Buildings would be from 100,000 to 400,000 square feet. The buildings need 150 megawatts of power per 100,000 square feet, Reams told commissioners.
The project is stymied in part so far by a lack of energy. Natural gas will be needed for the project, and gas companies will need to be convinced to make the investment in that project, commissioners heard.
Electricity is another need that’s falling short so far of the data center’s requirements. A solar company, AES Clean Energy, wants to develop a solar field in northeast Labette County but has yet to work through the county’s zoning process. The county’s zoning regulations related to solar fields are still in development. This project would make available to Great Plains electricity generated from the 2,500 acres of solar fields it wants to build, commissioners heard.
GPIP board member Bob Wood said the data processing center needs green energy for its investment. Part of that green power would come from natural gas, if that can be developed and supplied to Great Plains.
Evergy also wants to create a solar field at Great Plains but will feed that green energy into the Southwest Power Pool grid, not share it directly with industries in the park, Wood said. Evergy has options on land in the park that will need to be renewed late this year.
Gina Penzig, senior manager of corporate communications for Evergy, told the Sun that the solar array planned for Great Plains will generate between 200 and 400 megawatts. Evergy has submitted two interconnection applications to the SPP, each for 200 MW of solar at the site.
“Unfortunately, the wait time for SPP approval is long. Evergy and the industrial park have been working on the right lease structure in light of the time needed for SPP approval. We are excited about the project. It will add a local source of power and provide tax benefits over the life of the project,” she said in an email correspondence.
Commissioners heard that AES wanted to make a decision on the future of its solar project in about a week. Great Plains board members asked county commissioners to write a letter of support for the project.
There was some discussion of a recent meeting between AES and a county official and the zoning board president. Perceptions of the tone from that meeting differed between what the county officials said and what the company representative told Great Plains board members.
County Commissioner Terry Weidert expressed his dissatisfaction in communication between Great Plains and the commission and the pace of development at the park, which was formed after a 2005 Army decision to close the former Kansas Army Ammunition Plant.
Commissioners on a split vote recently denied renewing the terms of three Great Plains board members. Last week, the commission agreed to reappoint Gary Beachner to the board but not Danny Manners and Linda Proehl. Manners attended the commission meeting.
Weidert called this decision a “shot over the bow” because he hadn’t seen projects brought to fruition in four years at Great Plains.
“I hate to say this, but I have not seen one contract signed. I’ve not seen anything of an agreement of anything. And it frustrates me to think I’ve served a whole term and not gotten anything done for the county,” Weidert said.
He called Great Plains a goldmine. Wood said projects take time to develop and a lack of power has slowed that process down more. The data center would benefit from the power generated by AES, as would other projects at the park. If the company doesn’t develop a solar field in Labette County, it will at another location.
“That would be disappointing to us with the work we’ve done with this other company. And it would be a blow to the county, a financial blow to the county, if they did it,” Wood said of AES.
“We’ve got projects that depend on the energy,” Wood said, and the data center would create a revenue stream to the county, schools and the college.
Weidert encouraged AES to follow the zoning process. Commission Chairman Vince Schibi said he supported the AES project, Great Plains and the data center. The valuation from that center could transform the county, he said. He said he would hate to lose AES before the process plays out.
Great Plains board member Brian Williams said the board and the commission want the same thing, growth.
“If we don’t send the message that our county welcomes solar, and if we’re against everything, then people aren’t going to pay us the time of day,” Williams said.
