Battery Storage Facility Bid Goes Up in Flames

 By Gretchen Garrity

The Christian County Commissioners voted 3-0 on Thursday, April 18, 2024 to reject an application to build a battery storage facility in Ozark (previous article HERE). Fierce opposition from residents located near the proposed facility, as well as other citizens, made the commissioners' decision popular.

The second floor courtroom was packed for most of the meeting, with citizens handing out flyers and information they had gathered. A team from the developer Black Mountain Energy Storage, based in Austin, TX traveled to the meeting to make another pitch to the commissioners. Also, a representative of Show Me Christian County, the development organization of the county spoke in favor of the project.

While the dialog was mostly cordial, citizens were quick to react and call out the Black Mountain team at times. Show Me Christian County President and CEO Kristen Haseltine spoke about a forecasted tax increase for local schools of up to $24 million, which caused Commissioner Brad Jackson to later counter that because the facility would be considered personal property and not real property, a future change in the law (getting rid of the personal property tax) could negate all of the tax windfall.

Kristen Haseltine

Haseltine said, "Whenever this project came about, almost a year ago, we were informed about it and so we started investigating and started looking at it...seeking professional input from, um, across the state. We have even gone to Eaglepicher...in Joplin. They actually produce lithium ion batteries. We have talked with, I think, a minimum of six different utility partners, Liberty included, as well as cooperatives. We've talked to regional, as well as statewide, different groups. So we feel like we have been in lots of conversations, done research...Honestly I'm gonna point out Todd [Wiesehan, Resource Management Director]. Todd has done an amazing job at creating a summary of this project and addressing some of the concerns, and provided all of the resources that he used during his research. Based upon a lot of that research and investigation and everything that we've done, and including--which I'm going to point out--Danny Gray [county assessor] the financial impact as well."

  Haseltine went on to share three main points that attracted Show Me Christian County to the project:
1) Construction jobs
2) Energy Supply
3) Financial impact

Haseltine admitted that the construction jobs (about 100) would be temporary. Additionally, the Black Mountain team admitted earlier in the meeting that there is no guarantee that county residents would see a rise in the local energy supply or a lowering of rates. And, as noted above, if the personal property tax is done away with, the taxes collected would not meet the projection that Black Mountain gave to the assessor.

Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris kept control of the meeting while allowing everyone to speak. The commissioners had done their homework about the project, and Morris remarked that he had received a plethora of emails and phone calls from concerned citizens.

In an interesting development, the property owner, Stu Stenger of Natural Bridge, LLC, who also owns the land adjacent to the proposed facility, did not appear. Apparently, Stenger has plans to build a housing development on his adjacent property, and Haseltine inferred that if Stenger did not have a problem with the storage facility then citizens could feel at ease.

Later, a citizen who is a real estate appraiser got up to speak (at about the 1:44:00 timestamp) and explained how projects like the proposed battery storage facility could negatively affect property values. At the end, she said, "And I don't agree with that developer [Stenger]. He's gonna have a hard time selling a $500,000 or $600,000 house sitting next to a storage facility and a substation."

Haseltine arose in defense of Stenger, saying that his company had taken into consideration all the variables of locating a housing development near a utility. She also cited the housing shortage and stable local home prices as reasons for going forward with building housing near the battery storage facility.

Commissioner Morris commented about the absence of the developer, Stu Stenger, saying, "I'm a little disappointed. I continue to be that way, from time to time when people who should be at a meeting don't come to the meeting."

Commissioner Bradley Jackson spoke just before making a motion to deny the application for the project. "I don't like having people tell me, 'Think of all the property tax that will be generated for the schools.Think about the schools'. I do think about the schools. I think about them a lot. But the fact that there is a governor candidate that is running on the premise of eliminating the personal property tax, I can't take that into consideration as a revenue source. And I'm not going to be bought or have that threat of money hamper my ability to make a good decision. My citizens are worth more than money."

The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bilyeu, and the vote to deny the application was 3-0.

Video of the proceedings: