Invenergy requests amendment to economic development agreement

Invenergy requested an amendment to their economic development agreement (EDA) with the county during a Pulaski County Commissioners and Pulaski County Council joint session on June 8. David Clifford, Senior Associate at Invenergy and lead developer of the Bottlebrush Solar project, presented the request with Director Hannah Pawelczyk. To start, Clifford explained that this would be the official first amendment to the economic development agreement that was signed in June 2023 between the county and the Bottlebrush Solar project. According to the original timeline, construction was supposed to start in June 2026 and finish on Dec. 31, 2027. He said with this amendment they are looking to change these dates and also provide more clarity to the county on when economic development payments would begin. Clifford then gave some background on the request. After Invenergy had signed the EDA with the county, the transmission grid operators and regulators had given some feedback as to when they would be able to connect the Bottlebrush project to the grid. Clifford said that essentially the transmission owners encountered some delays on when they can plan to schedule construction and grid connection. This new schedule would further update the project to the schedule that was given to Invenergy by the transmission operators and allow them to maintain their agreement with the county. Clifford said the amendment would just be a one year extension, with the anticipated completion date to be July 31, 2029.