Comments identify $9,000 error in Kiowa County renewable-energy fee
Correcting the calculation would lower the proposed charge for a 550-megawatt project from $6,877,697 to $6,868,697; the county had scheduled a Sept. 14 review.
A supplemental comment letter from the COSSA Institute identified a $9,000 arithmetic error in Kiowa County’s proposed renewable-energy development impact fee. Correcting it would lower the proposed charge for a 550-megawatt project from $6,877,697 to $6,868,697, according to the comments.
The error appears in the study’s “Other Public Facilities” calculation. The five listed costs total $1,235,900, and 10% of that amount is $123,590, rather than the $132,590 included in the study. The correction would reduce the proposed rate from $12,505 per megawatt to about $12,489 per megawatt for a 550-megawatt project, before any other changes.
COSSA asked the county to correct the calculation before finalizing the fee. Its comments also asked the county to explain assumptions behind projected impacts on fire and hospital services, roads, law enforcement and landfill capacity, as well as how the fee would apply to hybrid solar-and-storage projects and projects built in phases.
The comments also ask whether the fee could overlap with costs covered by a project’s Master Road Agreement or other application fees, reimbursements or development agreements. They do not establish that duplicate charges would occur.
The county’s work-session notice said commissioners would discuss the draft Renewable Energy 1041 Development Impact Fee Nexus Study and accept limited public comment at 10 a.m. Sept. 14. The available county minutes records do not establish whether commissioners accepted the correction, directed a revised study or took other action at the session.