BrightNight, its joint venture partner Cordelio Power, and the Southwest Public Power Agency announced in June the commercial operation of the Box Canyon Solar Project.
The 300-megawatt utility-scale project, located in Pinal County, Arizona, about six miles north of the Town of Florence, represents the largest renewable energy procurement in SPPA's history.
"SPPA is thrilled to now be supplying its members with safe, clean, reliable, and affordable electricity from the Box Canyon Solar Project. From the very beginning, BrightNight worked to understand our long-term goals and successfully delivered a solution that meets the needs of our members and their customers, all on time and on budget," said SPPA Project Manager Dennis Delaney.
SPPA is a Joint Action Agency that manages through a formal pool all or most of its members' power resources and facilitates the supply of additional energy needed to meet their customers' loads.
It is the first project in the 2.5 GW Arizona portfolio owned by BrightNight and Cordelio Power to reach commercial operation.
BrightNight led the development of the Box Canyon project as part of its joint venture with Cordelio Power.
Concurrently with achieving commercial operations, BrightNight and Cordelio Power completed the previously announced tax equity investment with J.P. Morgan, through one of its affiliates, and Capital One, N.A. and converted the construction debt financing into a term loan.
According to an economic impact study by Elliott Pollack and Associates, the project generated $47 million in economic impact in Pinal County during the construction period and created more than 300 American jobs.
During operations, the Box Canyon Solar Project is expected to generate an estimated $134 million in local economic benefits - through property taxes, wages, and more - bringing the total county-level economic contribution to over $180 million.
In addition, the project is projected to generate more than $65 million in land lease payments to be allocated to the State of Arizona Land Trust over the lifetime of the project. The trust's beneficiaries include K–12 and university education, state hospitals, and other critical public services.
In a separate community investment program, Box Canyon is donating a portion of the project's proceeds to fund scholarships for 50 students to complete Central Arizona College's electrician program over the next five years.
