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Project Overview:
Vistra is taking steps to responsibly operate, retire, and transition its Illinois legacy coal fleet to be anchors of the state’s new zero-emission, renewable energy economy.
The company has begun construction of a 405-megawatt Pulaski Solar Facility in Pulaski County. Vistra will invest more than $650 million to build the energy center, which will be its largest solar project to date anywhere in the country.
Vistra reached a long-term, commercial power purchase agreement to support Pulaski Solar’s construction and operations. The company expects the facility to enter service in 2026.
The facility is being constructed with union labor. The investment is expected to generate $117 million in earnings for workers and create 1,330 full-time direct, indirect, and induced job equivalents during construction.
The new energy center is located a few miles from the company’s retired EEI-Joppa Power Plant. It will connect to the grid at the Joppa site through a to-be-constructed approximate 8-mile transmission line.
The project has received a High Impact Business Utility Scale Solar Facility designation from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity.
When the facility retires, it will be responsibly decommissioned, and the company will return the property to landowners in a condition ready for agricultural reuse.
The Pulaski Solar project is located south of the Village of Karnak, at the eastern boundary of Pulaski County. The project is to the north of Tick Ridge Road.
$650 Million invested in Pulaski County to build 405 MW Solar Power Plant
Building Phase Supports 1,330 Direct, Indirect & Induced Full-Time Jobs Across Illinois
Construction Provides $117 Million in Earnings for In-State WorkersÂ
$57 Million in New Property Taxes From Plant to Local Governments
Pulaski Solar: Strengthening Illinois’ grid, generating zero-carbon electricity, and providing economic independence for Pulaski County.
According to economic and fiscal impact studies, the construction and operations of the renewable energy center will unlock tremendous economic and fiscal benefits for the local and regional economy of southern Illinois:
- The project is forecast to add $185 million of activity to the local, regional, and state economy over the next two years.
- The new solar facility will add to the local tax base, and it is projected to pay $57 million in property taxes over the next 25 years.
- More than half of the total property taxes paid by the solar facility will support the educational operations in the county. Century School District 100 is projected to receive approximately $26.7 million in tax payments and Shawnee Community College will receive approximately $4.8 million.
- Pulaski County is expected to receive approximately $23.5 million in property taxes from Pulaski Solar.
Estimated taxes based on 2022 tax rate being held constant for 25 years.
Background:
Pulaski Solar is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to drive a $650 million investment in the county to build a solar power plant. Construction supports approximately 1,330 full-time direct, indirect, and induced job equivalents that will generate $117 million in new personal income for workers and families, including union trades in southern Illinois.
Pulaski Solar will provide a 75% increase in the total value of all assessed property in Pulaski County compared to the current countywide tax valuation. Â The solar power plant will unlock $57 million in new property taxes that can support local public services, assist in infrastructure investments or reduce the tax burden of other county property owners.
While in operation, the acreage used by the solar power plant will be in passive conservation. Pre-existing contractual agreements with landowners and the State of Illinois require the project to be responsibly decommissioned and the land to be returned to its prior condition upon the power plant’s retirement.