(Disclosure: Rose Law Group represents 174 Power Global.)
By John Gutekunst | Parker Pioneer
A solar energy company asked for and received a change in La Paz County’s Comprehensive Plan at the Board of Supervisors’ May 6 meeting. Atlas North, a subsidiary of 174 Power Global, asked for almost 2,400 acres to be added to the “employment zone” next to the land the Bureau of Land Management conveyed to the county in 2020 for solar power development.
D.L. Wilson, the county’s manager for solar projects, said this was the first step in leasing the land, which is currently held by the state.
After years of effort, much of it by Wilson, who was then a County Supervisor, the BLM conveyed 5,900 acres to La Paz County in May, 2020. The conveyance was done as part of the John D. Dingell Conservation, Recreation and Management Act, which was signed by President Donald Trump in March 2019. In March, 2020, South Korea-based 174 Power Global signed an agreement with La Paz County for an 850 megawatt solar facility on 4,000 acres of former BLM land.
