OPPD seeks compromise on York County solar zoning rules [Video]

It was too good an opportunity to let pass.

When a renewable energy company seemed ready to cancel a proposed 310-megawatt solar farm near McCool Junction in York County, the Omaha Public Power District acquired the rights to the project in August.

The 2,800-acre solar farm fit with OPPD’s plan to add $2 billion in electric generating capacity over the next decade and would help the utility meet its commitment to renewable fuels. It also had a favorable place in line to be connected to OPPD’s regional power pool.

“That’s when we said, ‘We can’t let this project go away,’” said OPPD President and CEO Javier Fernandez. “The stakes are too high. The energy needs are too high. If we let this project go away, we’re going to make our customer-owners wait years longer, and that’s just not acceptable to me.”

But the proposed K-Junction Solar Project also has come with potential snags: While nearly two dozen landowners had …