Weld commissioners approve one of the largest solar projects in the country

GREELEY — The Board of Weld County Commissioners on Wednesday approved a solar farm that will create one of the largest solar projects in the country.

The commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the massive project proposed by Magnum Feedyard owner Steve Gabel. Commissioner Mike Freemen was the lone objector to the facility, which, when it is commissioned in 2028, will create enough electricity to power 187,000 homes with 590,000 solar panels across the landscape of southeast Weld County as it straddles the Morgan County line.

“I struggle with a few things, the compatibility of that size of solar facility going on farm ground, whether it’s highly productive or not,” Freeman said after a lengthy public hearing. “I struggle with the environmental impact of solar panels and public safety, the cumulative impact. There is a cumulative impact to that amount of solar panels. I struggle with the application. But I fully understand where you’re coming from.”

The project has 4,300 acres in Weld, and another 4,100 acres in Morgan County. In the middle of the acreage, Gabel runs a 35,000-head feedlot, which generated more than $170 million in sales from 2023-24, he told the commissioners.

Commissioners had concerns about how the project would handle the potential of fire mitigation, especially with highly combustible lithium batteries, as well as decommissioning the project.

Representatives of Utah-based Balanced Rock Power LLC, which is developing the project with Taelor Solar on the land, said while on paper the project is big, its size will be contingent on customer demand for power. The developers during this time also have been talking to nearby neighbors who were concerned about the proximity of the project to their homes, and the project developers offered to  increase setbacks from residential property to 2,000 feet from the current 500 feet that was required.

The project gained approval on the Morgan County side, and from the Weld County Planning Commission.

“As the head of a family-owned and operating business, my challenge is to maximize our return on investment,” Magnum owner Steve Gabel told the commissioners. “To bring next generation succession into our business, we cannot just sit still, we must respond to these opportunities.  … While we recognize the sheer size of the project will make your decision more controversial, it doesn’t change the facts. Our business is operated with every requirement of our use by special review and has done so continually for 32 years. We want to be here, we have no plans to go anywhere else. The highest and best use of this marginal land is in solar production.”

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