A previously approved solar field in Miami County is getting bigger, as will a monetary investment into it.
The Miami County Council approved a new 10-year tax abatement for Indiana Municipal Power Agency to construct the facility in the area of a wellhead owned by Peru Utilities located at the end of Jackson Street just outside the Peru city limits..
Brooke Robertson, director of business retention for the Miami County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA), said IMPA's investment increased from about $2.18 million to $3.56 million. The number of solar panels installed rose from 3,888 to 7,776.
She said the company decided to do it because of the "nice area" IMPA was utilizing for the project. IMPA provides power to Peru Utilities.
County Councilman Ethan Manning, who sits on the county's abatement committee, said the revised investment was "great" for Miami County."
"I think IMPA found we were easy to work with and that we have the space," he said. "It was convenient for them to expand and for us to revise the abatement and take into account their larger investment."
He said any investment in Miami County was "a good investment."
Although no jobs will be added, Robertson said the abatement allows for more taxes to be captured by the county since it had a new method. The abatement is now set for 60 percent over 10 years rather than a stair-step over the same duration, which began at 100 percent and decreased 10 percent each year.
"This isn't something that creates jobs, but it is something that raises our AV and brings in tax dollars," Manning said. "And it uses space that isn't being used for anything else. It's certainly a good thing for the county."
Robertson said the county was abating $648,000 over the abatement's duration, but captures $427,000. That's an increase from the previous collection which was $252,314. Previously, officials said the deal would not have happened without the tax break.
She said increasing the initial investment was a positive for the county and was MCEDA's "goal (of) people investing more."
Robertson said the project had a Sept. 1 completion date. She said she was unsure if IMPA would continue to expand the project in later years, but said there was area available for it.
When it was first approved in September, Peru Utilities General Manager Roger Merriman said the area is about 65 acres and 30 of those "lend itself well to this kind of application."
"There's very little site work that will need to be done," he said. "We weren't going to use it for anything because it's a wellfield. It's a perfect fit."
IMPA Senior Vice President of Power Generation Jack Alvey previously said the site would be built with "very good grounding and lightning protection" and that solar flares wouldn't affect it.
Alvey said it would be "clean power source" and that it "shouldn't be noisy," comparing it to a transformer at a substation.