Three solar projects have filed for tax abatements with the Milam County Appraisal District and two more projects will be coming to the area, according to County Judge Steve Young.
Young told commissioners at Monday’s regular meeting that the Ben Milam, Athena and Jungmann solar projects have filed for tax abatements with the county and two more projects are planning to move into the county.
“The first one is the Ben Milam Solar Project, which is in North Burleson. It’s a 5,000-acre project that will produce 600 megawatts of power, which is enough to power 120,000 homes. They have filed for a tax abatement at commissioners court,” Young said.
The smaller project coming to Rockdale is called the Athena Project, according to Kara Clore, executive director of the Rockdale Municipal Development District.
Judge Young said the project northeast of Rock-dale will be 12-acres.
It will have two phases. The first phase of the solar project will generate .99 megawatts of electricity and the second phase will include building a storage facility, according to officials.
The third project coming to Rockdale is situated near the Buckholts area and it’s called the Jungmann Solar Farm Project.
“This is a smaller project. They have 220 acres. 30 megawatts of power enough for about 6,000 homes. They have also filed for an abatement,” Young said.
When asked about the economic assessment of the solar projects, Young said, it will be substantial.
“The economic assessment indicated that sales tax alone during the construction phase of the Ben Milam Project would result in about $200,000 in sales tax revenue and increase revenue for Cameron alone,” Young said.
He and the commissioners will have a better idea of the revenue, after their meeting this week to discuss the projects.
BLOCKCHAIN–The judge briefly discussed the new blockchain project that will be leasing land from Alcoa near substation four off of US 79.
“They are going to build the world’s largest blockchain facility, not in Texas, not in America, in the world,” he said. “Blockchain is technology that is used to encrypt information. This technology is what is used to encrypt the information that certifies a bitcoin is a real bitcoin. Another example, is one county recently used this technology to encrypt birth certificates, and some day very soon you’ll vote from home using block chain technology. This is cutting edge technology.” See page 5A for more information.
Young ended the economic development discussion by telling commissioners that 83 people attended the third economic summit.
OTHER ACTION–Commissioners approved early voting dates (see separate story on page 2A), writs of execution fees charged by the sheriff and constables and hiring of Angelica Huerta, as a part-time records management clerk.
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