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From:Malcolm MacDonald
To:Teeter, Doug
Cc:Clerk of the Board
Subject:Cenergy/North Chico Solar Project
Date:Monday, October 26, 2026 4:03:21 PM
October 27, 2026
Butte County Board of Supervisors
25 County Center Drive, Suite 200
Oroville, CA 95965
Re: North Chico Solar Project — Proposed Community Benefits Agreement
Dear Members of the Board:
We urge the Board to exercise caution in considering Cenergy Power’s proposed Community Benefits
Agreement for the North Chico Solar Project. While the proposed financial contributions may benefit the
County, they do not resolve the fundamental questions about whether this project is appropriate for its
proposed location.
My wife and I live on six acres of land that has been in our family for more than a century, only a few
hundred feet from the proposed project site. Our family also owns approximately 600 acres that share a
property line with the project area. For many years, we have worked with the County's Resource
Conservation District, Friends of Butte Creek, the California Wildlife Conservation Board, and the
Northern California Regional Land Trust to place our land into conservation. We find it inconceivable that
a project of this size and industrial character could be considered immediately adjacent to our family
home and land that we have devoted years of effort to protecting for conservation.
The proposed site is also in a high fire hazard severity zone. When we evacuated our home during the
Camp Fire, we had only one access road serving our property. As we drove past the land proposed for this
project, it was burning, and the area now proposed for the battery energy storage system (BESS)—the
aspect of the project that raises particular safety concerns—was engulfed in flames. That experience gives
us a very real understanding of the wildfire risks in this location. The incompatibility of this project
with its surroundings is profound.
Our concerns with the proposed Community Benefits Agreement include:
The agreement must not predetermine the project's acceptability. Cenergy explicitly
links this proposal to its anticipated California Energy Commission certification application.
Any agreement should preserve the County's ability to scrutinize the project's impacts and
should not be treated as evidence that those impacts are acceptable.
The proposed fire station requires independent scrutiny. Cenergy proposes to convey
approximately six acres along Skyway for a new fire station. The County should independently
determine whether this location meets its actual fire-service needs, rather than allow the
proposed project to dictate public-safety planning. Conveying land and providing a capital grant
are not the same as committing to fund construction, staffing, and ongoing operation of a fire
station. The agreement should make clear what, if anything, is actually guaranteed in this
regard.
Annual payments must be guaranteed and enforceable. Cenergy proposes annual
payments of up to $300,000, beginning only after commercial operation. The agreement should
specify a guaranteed minimum, enforceable payment terms, and consequences for nonpayment.
Community benefits are not mitigation. Payments for fire protection, emergency services,
and other County priorities do not substitute for a rigorous evaluation of the project's potential
impacts on nearby residents, emergency response, water resources, oak woodland, and the
surrounding community.
We ask the Board to require clear, enforceable terms and to evaluate the proposed benefits separately
from the project's safety, environmental, and land-use implications.
A financial offer to the County should not substitute for demonstrating that this project is
appropriate for this location. As County residents whose home and family land are directly
affected by the proposed site, we believe this location is wholly inappropriate for a project
of this scale and character.
Respectfully,
Malcolm and Kari DuFour MacDonald
115 Alm Bluffs Drive
Chico, CA 95928
530-816-9201