Atascosa County, TX — Solar Development Risk Assessment

No specific moratorium information available.

None codified.

By-right — no restrictive ordinance; federal and county stakeholders supportive.

Pro-solar — USDA $1B+ energy community grant awarded; cooperative converting coal plant to solar+storage.

South Texas county; San Miguel Electric Cooperative's coal plant conversion to solar/BESS received USDA Energy Communities designation and billion-dollar grant commitment; strong federal backing; R-majority board.

Improving

No state siting board for solar in Texas. PUCT regulates utilities; ERCOT manages interconnection for ERCOT service territory (most of state); SPP governs Panhandle/northwest TX. County Commissioners Court governs unincorporated areas under Texas Local Government Code. Many rural TX counties have NO zoning authority — solar is essentially by-right without county approval requirement. HB 2527 (2023) requires counties with solar ordinances to provide a 'reasonable' permitting framework. No statewide preemption prevents county restrictions. ERCOT interconnection queue is severely congested — grid study delays of 2-4+ years common.

Texas has no state RPS mandate. Key incentives: Federal ITC (30% base + bonus adders for energy communities/domestic content). Property tax abatement via Chapter 312/313 successor frameworks (county-level negotiation required). ERCOT wholesale market provides strong merchant revenue stack. No state income tax benefits developer HQ decisions. USDA REAP available for rural projects.

San Miguel Electric Cooperative solar/battery conversion facility — USDA Rural Energy for America finalist 2024; major utility-scale transition project.

None documented.