HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.1 - Debra Lucero - CENERGY PROJECT AGENDA ITEM 5.1.ATTENTION: This message originated from outside Butte County. Please exercise judgment before opening attachments,
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From:Debra Lucero
To:Clerk of the Board
Subject:CENERGY PROJECT AGENDA ITEM 5.1
Date:Monday, October 26, 2026 9:03:18 AM
Attachments:image.png
To the Butte County Board of Supervisors:
The Butte County Resource Conservation District voted unanimously on Oct. 23rd at a special
meeting to not accept the Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) offered by Cenergy to the
organization, stating it was pre-mature. Cenergy has been shopping CBA’s around to various
nonprofits and government agencies like the Butte County Board of Supervisors, Butte County Fire
Department, the Fire Safe Council, Butte County Sheriff’s Department, CSU, Chico, and a new
nonprofit called Alliance for Resilience and Community Health (ARCH).
BCRCD board member(s) said, in a nutshell about the CBA offer: “It feels like we're 'being bought'
with a promise of $250,000 - 'far too little' for keeping quiet and not questioning the project” which
are conditions of the agreement. No Cenergy representative showed up to represent the CBA offer
at the meeting.
Colleen Cecil, Executive Director of the Butte County Farm Bureau was also at the BCRCD meeting
and registered her dislike of the word "farm" in relation to Cenergy’s "industrial" complex project. "it
has nothing to do with the production of food, fauna, flora,” etc. Additionally, she said, the project
takes active grazing land out of commission.
The Butte County Cattlemen's & Cattlewomen’s Association wrote a letter on this topic in 2016
when the County first wrote its Solar Overlay Plan which launched in 2017. In part, the letter states:
“The Butte County Cattlemen’s Association is opposed to construction of commercial solar
facilities on land that is zoned for agricultural use. Regardless of the intent, these large-scale
facilities are not conducive to agricultural production, including rangeland grazing and should only
be located on land zoned for commercial use. We see the continual erosion of the agricultural land
base in Butte County which has long-term implications for the economic vitality of our rural
communities.”
We recognize the importance of renewable energy development and appreciate the Board of
Supervisors' interest in securing meaningful benefits for Butte County residents. However, we
believe consideration of a CBA for the North Chico Solar Project is premature before the County
and public have had an opportunity to review the project's complete application, environmental
impacts, proposed mitigation measures, and alternatives through the California Energy
Commission's established review process. T
Cenergy does not need a CBA to submit its proposal but must complete at least ONE to satisfy
CEC requirements once the application has been deemed complete. There is a time period for
that.
We respectfully ask the Board to defer any endorsement or commitment concerning the proposed
agreement and instead direct County staff to engage directly with the California Energy
Commission to determine how Butte County can fully participate in the review.
This is an extraordinary landscape, with extensive native blue oak woodland, wildlife habitat,
grazing land, and important watershed resources. The community deserves a transparent process,
informed by science and meaningful public participation, before decisions are made that could
permanently change this landscape.
Thank you,
Debra Lucero
Butte County Resident in Supervisor Peter Durfee's District