Hecate Energy seeks to build solar plant

BRYSON – Hecate Energy officials announced their plans to utilize 7,000 acres along the Jack and Palo Pinto County line to build a solar energy plant and a battery storage facility. The announcement was made during the Bryson ISD board meeting Monday, Oct. 18.

A full house of onlookers from both Bryson and Graford ISDs watched a Zoom meeting between the board and Andrew Boggs, Hecate Vice President of Development. Boggs said the company has worked well with other school districts in the past, and is presently working with both Mart ISD and Riesel ISD on a similar project.

With the construction, Hecate will become the county’s largest taxpayer. The proposed facility, for which construction should begin sometime in 2023, is about one mile east of the leach pit in Bryson and rides the county line near Rock Creek Road, Boggs said. Construction of the facility will take about 400-500 employees per phase, with an expected 18-month to two-year building time.

Board President T-Bob Hauger asked if the company liked to use local contractors. Boggs said when they can, they will.

“Our sweet spot would be (to use) 10,000 acres,” Boggs explained. “We want to build the largest one of these in Texas without being too intrusive, which these facilities never are.”

The three phase project, of which phase 1 will be solely in Jack County, will include the building of collection devices. These devices stand about eight feet tall, of 650 megawatts each. That will represent a $400-450 million investment of capital per phase. If the battery storage facility is included, it could mean a $2 billion capital investment, Boggs said.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 27 edition of the Jacksboro Herald-Gazette.