photo by: Savion

This map shows the proposed project area for Kansas City-based Savion's "Kansas Sky Energy Center," a 1,000 acre solar energy project the company wants to be located just north of Lawrence.

Much has been said in Lawrence meeting rooms over the past two years about the potential for large-scale renewable energy development in Douglas County. But on Monday, the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission will be considering whether to take the most tangible step yet in clearing a path for such development to actually take place.

The Planning Commission will be considering a conditional use permit for the Kansas Sky Energy Center, a commercial-scale solar energy facility proposed for 1,105 acres just north of Lawrence and west of Lawrence Regional Airport. As the Journal-World reported last month, this is the first project of its scale to have filed permit application materials with Douglas County planning staff. The project is a collaboration between Evergy — which would ultimately build, own and operate the facility — and Kansas City energy firm Savion, which is handling preliminary development for the project.

Earning a recommendation for approval from the Planning Commission is the penultimate step for applications of this kind before a project can move forward. The Douglas County Commission would make the final decision on approving the project, based in part on the recommendation that group gets from the Planning Commission.

According to the agenda for Monday’s Planning Commission meeting, the facility would generate 159 MW of energy — enough energy to power several thousand homes — by utilizing approximately 237,300 solar modules, or panels, and 43 inverter stations. The application proposes using solar tracking systems, in which the solar panels move on an axis to follow the sun throughout the day. The electricity produced at the facility wouldn’t be stored in batteries but instead would be collected at an on-site substation, then transmitted to the Midland substation, located across East 1400 Road from the proposed facility.

Details about the Kansas Sky Energy Center first emerged earlier this year in April, but Savion has been leasing land and handling other preparatory work for the project since 2021.

This project, like other commercial-scale renewable energy projects proposed by Florida-based energy giant Nextera Energy Resources for southern areas of the county, hasn’t been popular among certain circles. In late October, some neighbors to the project told the Journal-World they’re expecting sizable opposition at Monday’s meeting.

The turnout at another one of the Planning Commission’s recent meetings could also be an indicator of potential public engagement on Monday. When the group considered adopting a revised set of regulations for developing wind energy projects in rural areas of the county in late October, dozens of community members packed City Hall and the public comment period extended past midnight.

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Though the conditional use permit for the Kansas Sky Energy Center is the most significant item on Monday’s Planning Commission agenda, there are also some other items of note for the group to consider. One of them is a right-of-way variance request for the KU Chabad House, which as the Journal-World recently reported is looking to build a larger house as part of a $5 million project.

Another right-of-way variance request is on the agenda for the proposed 50-home Monterey Gardens at Fall Creek Farms subdivision, which filed plans with the city to develop on about 12 acres of vacant land at the southeast corner of Peterson Road and Monterey Way in west Lawrence in September.

The Planning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the City Commission Room at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.