photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Billy Wilkins, the project director for the West Gardner Solar project, speaks during NextEra Energy Resources' Tuesday, May 9, 2023 informational meeting.

NextEra Energy Resources, the Florida-based energy firm vying to bring part of a 3,000-acre solar project to southeastern Douglas County, is hosting its second public meeting about the project in as many months later this week.

While the last meeting NextEra hosted in May served as more of a straightforward presentation about the company’s “West Gardner Solar” project, the Thursday event is being called a “family fun day” and should be more informal comparatively, according to Sara Cassidy, a press contact with NextEra. It runs from 4 to 8 p.m. at Abe & Jake’s Landing, 8 E. Sixth St.

Cassidy told the Journal-World the Thursday event won’t include a presentation, but a message sent to folks on the project’s email list last week notes that the project team will be sharing a project update and answering questions. Cassidy didn’t respond to a follow-up email asking whether there will be any new information shared at the event about progress on submitting a permit application for the project with the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission.

Back in May, leaders with the project told community members they hoped to have the project up and running by 2026. Based on the pitch from NextEra, 1,000 acres of the project would be located here in Douglas County and the rest would hop the border into southwestern Johnson County.

Thursday’s meeting falls about two weeks before the Douglas County Commission is supposed to consider NextEra’s requests to conduct testing for the project. Back in March, commissioners deferred their decision on that group of permit requests after learning NextEra had already been performing some of those tests without a permit, and representatives with the company later asked to wait until the June 21 commission meeting to return to the agenda for further consideration.

The permits that commissioners are set to consider later this month wouldn’t be for the project as a whole, though, just for testing activities to help the company determine whether it will be viable to bring the project to the area.