Frequently Asked Questions

GEUS is always seeking ways to reduce system costs, provide the lowest possible cost energy for its customers and to improve services. This project would lower system costs and provide GEUS with the capability to offer locally produced renewable energy to its customers.

This project will effectively lower GEUS peak system load. The facilities will be interconnected to the GEUS distribution system lowering GEUS’ transmission and energy load. GEUS is a member of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which transmits power to 85% of Texans.  GEUS pays a share of the costs of the entire transmission system in ERCOT based on the maximum amount of electrical load GEUS places on the transmission system.  Additionally, GEUS is required to pay a share of reliability services based on its peak load. In recent years, GEUS’s peak has been approximately 124 MW.  This additional 10 MW produced by the solar facilities within the GEUS territory will immediately lower the GEUS peak and continue to lower it over the next 25 years.  So it will lower system costs and provide a hedge against expected increases in system costs in future years.

Where does the power go?  The 10 MW of power stays right here inside GEUS territory, benefiting all GEUS customers. Since these facilities would be connected to GEUS’ distribution system, all of the energy produced is owned by GEUS.

SunGrid won a competitive solicitation Request For Proposal (RFP) process to provide this service. 

SunGrid Power is a Texas-based solar developer, owner and operator of solar facilities within Hunt County, Texas.  They will invest $20+M locally in this project and expect to pay up to $200,000 in initial annual taxes, totaling over $4M over the project's duration.   Taxing entities that will benefit are Hunt County, Hunt Regional, Greenville ISD, and the City of Greenville.   SunGrid is not seeking any tax breaks.   Two of the properties aren’t currently on the tax rolls, and the other two will generate substantially more tax revenue with solar facilities than they do now.

There would be four facilities strategically located across Greenville.  Their approximate sizes will range from 5 to 24 acres each. 

Why not have one large facility instead of these four smaller ones scattered around Greenville?  This is intentional to balance the power intake onto multiple existing GEUS power lines and substations.   

SunGrid uses no-glare panels.  They are designed to absorb sunlight and not reflect it.  All four sites have already received clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Each site has been designed to be positioned away from main streets and/or to include vegetation screening to obscure visibility of the solar facility. They are at least a ¼ mile from residential structures and/or include treed screening to obscure their view from afar.

Each site has factors that could limit or prevent future development, such as pipelines, rights-of-way, or its location in the floodplain.

SunGrid has an Operations Team based in Wieland, TX.   These crews would service these facilities as well as the three similar facilities they operate locally for the Farmers Electric Cooperative (FEC).

SunGrid uses the most hail-resistant solar panels available on the market.  The panels are designed and warrantied to withstand a 2” hail ball with no damage to the solar panel.  SunGrid has approximately 20,000 solar panels installed at sites within 15 miles of Greenville, and over the past 3 years, only one (1) panel has shown any signs of hail damage. 

SunGrid uses poly-silicon panels that do not contain cadmium telluride or other metals found in thin film panels.  The primary material in the panels used by SunGrid is silicon(sand), which doesn’t present any environmental hazards.  Alarmists referring to environmental risks generally mean thin-film panels.

Texas Law HB 3228, Utilities Code Chapters 301 & 302, requires SunGrid to provide financial assurance, such as a bond or letter of credit, to cover decommissioning and site restoration costs.

GEUS has the option to purchase the facilities after 7 and 10 years, respectively.   Future GEUS Boards will make that decision. 

Tilt-based panels capture more of the day’s sunshine than roof-mounted panels, thus creating more electricity.  Most buildings were not designed to hold the infrastructure of tilt-based panels.  And businesses don’t want solar maintenance workers on the roofs.  The cost of building parking lot coverings to then mount tilt-based panels on would not be economically feasible.

No.

Yes.   Solar facilities are individually designed for the property for which they are located, including the severity of the floodplain.  

Snow can temporarily halt production, depending on the current angle of the tilt-based panels during snowfall.  At some point, the tilt gains angle and snow clears. 

All four sites are required to house the facilities necessary to produce 10MW of energy, the optimal scale for the GEUS system.

Yes.  In today’s energy market, it is critical to have a mix of renewable and fossil fuel generation sources.  This 10 MW of solar adds to the current energy we receive from solar and wind purchase power agreements.  GEUS will receive all the associated Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) produced by the facilities.

Yes, it could, or at least part of it.  GEUS currently contracts solar out of West Texas.   This puts a solar source much closer to home without transmission costs.

GBOD and L3 Harris will continue to own their land, and one solar facility is proposed for land, which would be owned by SunGrid. 

SunGrid will own all solar facility infrastructure, with GEUS having the option to purchase it at 7 and 10 years. 

SunGrid will manage the vegetation.

We have placed pins on Google Maps for each location.  We encourage the public to visit sites for a better understanding, but warn that some roads are unpaved and may be muddy or difficult to access. 

Google Map Locations: https://maps.app.goo.gl/pxc1BBVTUtDp4Cjd6

Summer 2026.

The Greenville Board of Development has some properties that are deemed neither ideal nor feasible for future development.  Yet these sites are acceptable for solar facilities.  L3 Harris has offered a site for solar facilities.  This site is owned by L3 Harris and sits adjacent to the City of Greenville land that they lease.  This solar facility helps L3 Harris Greenville meet the company’s sustainability goals. 

No. Two of the proposed sites sit very near or on the flight path of the Greenville airport.  L3 Harris is aware and participating in one of the four sites. 

GEUS is the oldest municipally owned electric provider in Texas and has been generating power locally and serving the Greenville community for 135 years.