Planning commission approves utility-scale solar project permit, extends approval window to 2030

The Utah County Planning Commission on Oct. 21 approved a conditional use permit for a proposed utility-scale solar and battery energy storage system in the Alberta/Goshen Valley area, and also granted the applicant an extension that sets the permit expiration at 2030.

Planning staff said the application covers roughly 4,300 acres of included parcels and an anticipated development footprint of about 3,200 acres across 29 parcels. The project includes photovoltaic arrays, a 100-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) and an operations/maintenance facility. Staff flagged one parcel that falls in a mining-grazing zone while most of the project parcels sit in the Goshen Valley planned community zone; the project type is allowed as a conditional use in that zone.

Sean Gibson, a representative of developer LRE, told the commission LRE has been developing wind, solar and battery projects for decades, is in interconnection queueing with the utility and wants an extended approval window because grid interconnection applications and financing can take several years. Gibson said the project'and others nearby'are pursuing interconnection with PacifiCorp/Rocky Mountain Power infrastructure that crosses the site. He asked the commission to approve the CUP and to allow the county's ordinance extension the applicant sought so the approval could be in effect through 2030.

Staff noted public-works review that Alberta Slant Road, where the owner proposes the operations building, is unpaved and not plowed in winter; any occupied facility there would be allowed subject to road-improvement conditions determined by public works. Staff also said the application included written property-owner consents from the surface owners (identified in the staff presentation as Farmland Reserve and the K-family trust) and that the project lies away from municipal annexation boundaries.

Commission discussion covered how many nearby solar approvals are already in the county and that conditional-use approval is a routine step projects take to join interconnection queues at the utility. Commissioners also asked about lease duration; staff said county CUPs for solar typically have three-year initial approvals with an option to extend up to five years on the first request, and applicants frequently request the longer initial extension when interconnection timelines are uncertain.

The commission voted to approve the conditional use permit and to set the initial approval expiration at 2030 to reflect the applicant's request for an extension to permit interconnection and financing work. The planning division will include conditions recommended by staff, including any road improvements required by public works before occupying any operations building.