Korsail Energy’s application to construct its “Cornflower Solar” energy and battery storage facility in Alamosa County was denied Tuesday for the second time.
In a 2-1 vote by the Alamosa County Board of Commissioners after a nearly five-hour public hearing, Korsail energy is back to square one. The main sentiment that emerged during the public hearing, from the public and county officials, was: good plan, bad location.
Alamosa County Commissioner Vern Heersink was the sole vote of approval, while commissioners Arlan Van Ry and Lori Laske voted to deny the “Cornflower Solar Project.” The decision did not come easy, nor did it come quickly, the commissioners said. The grounds for denying the 1041 application were three criteria that were not completely met regarding mitigating impacts to wildlife.
Commissioner Van Ry originally voted to approve the project during the first application. Korsail was first denied in July 2024 after a slew of opposition arose due to the site’s proximity to the Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge, the Playa Blanca State Wildlife, and Rock and Cat Creeks, as well migratory paths that run through the land’s natural wetland features.
The renewed application addressed these issues, but according to the county, not sufficiently.
Brandon Conrad, a representative from Korsail, made the argument that the Cornflower project would act as a nature preserve, preserving the wetlands already on the site and allowing for birds and big game to have undisturbed migratory paths.
Alamosa County Land Use and Building Director Richard Hubler noted that many of the negative impacts that could arise out of the project could be mitigated on another site. County land use staff recommended the commissioners deny the application, stating that it’s not an appropriate site.
The project site is between County Rd 3 South and County Road 5 South about 4 miles west of Alamosa. The landowners who have leased the land to Korsail were fully in support of the project, while adjacent neighbors raised traffic, fire safety, and wildlife concerns.
A 1041 permit is required for projects that are considered major in scope. Korsail’s proposal called for a 90MW solar system and 80MW of battery storage. According to Korsail, that’s enough energy to power 13,000 homes a year.
A piece of this project that set Korsail apart from similar projects was securing a Power Purchase Agreement from Xcel Energy. Normally, solar projects do not have a PPA prior to having an application approved. According to Korsail, in the last two weeks Xcel notified them of an upcoming deadline to meet in order to fully secure the agreement. Without the approved 1041 application in hand, Korsail decided to try again during the next round of agreement bidding in November.
Korsail noted their decision to build in the certain area was because it was one of the very few locations in Alamosa County that satisfied various regulatory restraints for such a large solar project, and its location near two 115kV transmission lines that would be adequate for the kind of power the Cornflower project would have been able to produce.
