County OKs tax abatement zone for solar farm

Stockdale Independent School District Superintendent Todd Deaver addresses the Wilson County Commissioners Court June 9 in favor of a tax abatement zone for a solar farm in eastern Wilson County. Some area residents voiced their opposition to the project. RACHEL DRAPER/Wilson County News

According to Stockdale Independent School District Superintendent Todd Deaver, having a solar farm in Wilson County is a “game changer.”

The Wilson County Commissioners met June 9 to hold a public hearing on a request by Clear Fork Creek Solar, LLC — which applied for a tax abatement in February — for 6,100 acres of land in eastern Wilson County outside of Nixon to be designated as a tax abatement reinvestment zone, under Chapter 312 of the state tax code.

According to the Texas Comptroller, before granting a tax abatement, a local taxing unit must:

•Adopt a resolution indicating the intent to permit tax abatements

•Adopt tax abatement guidelines and criteria

•Define an area as a reinvestment zone.

Deaver spoke in favor of the solar-farm project, telling commissioners that it sends the message to big companies that “we are open for business.” Additionally, it would benefit students in Stockdale ISD with increased tax revenues; the district is in need of a new Fine Arts building and improvements to the elementary school.

Karen Kibbe — who addressed the commissioners when the topic was presented in February — spoke again, saying “it could be a long-term benefit to the county.”

Kibbe suggested several things that any solar company “should have to do” to get a tax abatement, including a contractual provision that makes it impossible to transfer the project to any public entity, and any used water be retained and treated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

“With TCEQ, [the concern] is more to do with what happens where you have petroleum products that run off and end up in the water,” Kibbe said. “This area takes in a couple of reservoirs, a creek, and eventually flows into the Ecleto Creek.”

Several property owners who live within the project area or its vicinity attended to share their concerns.

Stockdale resident Kay Love spoke against the proposal, saying that Clear Fork — which is planning one of the largest battery energy storage systems with a solar-linked facility — doesn’t need a tax abatement, because the project is “well-funded and subsidized.”

Love also has concerns that the location on the far east side of Wilson County will not benefit Wilson County as much as Nixon and Gonzales counties, and that the project has already begun construction on the site, which “removes the option of an abatement under Chapter 312 and Wilson County’s policy.”

Another resident, Patti Werley — whose address was mistakenly added to the public notice, according to Lance Addison of Enbridge Inc. — shared her concerns for the wildlife habitat and the land that will be affected when solar panels eventually have to be replaced.

“This project came up a couple of years ago,” Werley said, referencing the proposal nixed by commissioners in June 2022. (See “Vote eclipses county tax abatement for solar farm,” June 15, 2022, Wilson County News.) “We killed it back then and I’d like to kill it again.”

The project is a 600-megawatt photovoltaic power generation facility, according to Bracewell attorney Blakely Fernandez, which is an $800 million investment. The project estimates generating six full-time jobs and 600 construction jobs.

Commissioners Gary Martin, Russell King, Jeffery Pierdolla, and John “Scott” Akin unanimously approved the establishment of the reinvestment zone.

County Judge Hank Whitman emphasized after the meeting that the vote only establishes the tax abatement reinvestment zone. The county has yet to agree on a payment plan with the developers, who will pay a reduced amount in property taxes to the county.

At the June 9 meeting, Clear Fork Creek LLC had proposed a payment of $825,000 per year for six years, with payments tapering after that, said Whitman. Discussions on the payment plan continue.

rdraper@mywcn.com

*Revised 6/11/2025