A few hours after Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at a Goldman Sachs conference that Apple had inked a deal to buy $850 million worth of solar power from a Monterey County solar farm, the County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to approve said solar farm.
California Flats is about a 2,900-acre solar project located on the 73,000-acre Jack Ranch, a property acquired by Hearst Corporation in 1966.
Dozens of members of the public spoke out in support of and opposition to the project. Opponents cited concerns with traffic on barely-traveled, narrow country roads, impacts to wildlife in the area and the viewshed.
First Solar's locally based project engineer, John Gaglioti, told the Weekly last August that they'd done everything possible to fit the panels into the landscape while minimizing habitat disruption.
"We affectionately call this the amoeba," he said. "It's ugly in outline, but beautiful in environmental sensitivity."
One commenter said, "This is corporate welfare, pure and simple." She spoke about federal subsidies funding the project.
She's not wrong. First Solar, the Arizona-based developer of this mid-sized solar farm, has been pushing for a relatively quick timeline. To qualify for existing federal tax credits, California Flats needs to be operational and making power by Dec. 31, 2016.
The federal tax credit is expected to pay for about one third of project costs.
First Solar has signed power purchase agreements with Apple and Pacific Gas & Electric.
Apple will buy 130 megawatts of power for 25 years. PG&E has agreed to buy 150 megawatts for 15 years.
The expected life of the project is 34 years, according to county planning documents.
Before First Solar can break ground, they will need a permit from San Luis Obispo County for a stretch of proposed road that crosses over the county line.
Gaglioti says he plans to submit an application to SLO County tomorrow to kick off that permitting process, which is expected to be much faster and less rigorous than the complete project footprint, approved today.
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