Construction is underway on a $1.7 billion solar and battery complex at the Twin Oaks coal plant in Robertson County, the county directly north of Brazos County, and some neighbors say no one told them where the panels would go.
What is being built
Developer Panamint Capital started work in July on Big Rooter Power, a roughly 1.2-gigawatt solar array spread across about 10,000 acres of the plant's property, much of it reclaimed mine land. The plan adds 1.6 gigawatt-hours of battery storage and more than 20 miles of new 345-kilovolt transmission line, all of it feeding the ERCOT grid.
The project comes in two phases. Big Rooter West is scheduled to begin commercial operation in August 2028 and Big Rooter East in August 2029, according to the company. The existing 310-megawatt coal unit will keep running alongside the solar for now.
Another 790 megawatts on the site is reserved for a possible data center. Chief Operating Officer Julia Olguin told KBTX the company has not decided whether to build one. "It is part of our plan," she said.
The tax deal
Robertson County approved a 10-year abatement under Chapter 312 of the Texas Tax Code that exempts all new equipment at the site from property taxes, in exchange for yearly payments to the county instead of taxes, KBTX reported from agreement documents it obtained. County officials estimated regular taxes would have brought in $25 million to $30 million over the decade.
The agreement guarantees a little over $13 million, rising to about $19 million with full build-out and land taxes. It requires four full-time jobs, which need not be filled by county residents, plus a $200,000 road deposit and basic road upkeep.
Joe David Scarpinato, the Robertson County judge, told KBTX that Panamint was going to build with or without a deal, and that an abatement is the only leverage a Texas county has because counties cannot zone. "We got what we could get," he said.
