La Paz County supervisors to review Atlas Solar agreements in special session

Atlas Solar amendments were set to put La Paz County’s biggest solar deal back under the microscope, with supervisors reviewing lease changes, easement corrections and financing certificates that could affect nearby access, project timing and long-term county revenue. The special session was scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday in the La Paz County Board of Supervisors meeting room at 1108 Joshua Avenue in Parker.

The agenda put several closely linked items in front of Chairman Duce Minor, Vice-Chairman Holly Irwin and Supervisor David Plunkett, with County Administrator Stephanie McDowell and Clerk of the Board Laurie Thornbury also listed. Among the documents were the Atlas Solar IV Lease Second Amendment, Atlas Solar IV Easement Amendment, Atlas Solar IV Debt Estoppel Certificate, Atlas Solar IV TE Estoppel Certificate, Atlas Solar II Lease Amendment and Atlas Solar II Easement Amendment. Supervisors also were asked to consider a correction to an Arizona Public Service easement and Resolution No. 2026-21, which would abandon an APS prior-rights Bureau of Land Management right-of-way.

The board’s agenda also said it could move into executive session for legal advice under Arizona open meeting law before returning to open session. That made the meeting more than a routine administrative stop. The mix of lease amendments, easement language and estoppel certificates pointed to a package tied to land control, utility access, financing and tax-related sign-offs, the kind of paperwork that often has to be cleaned up before a large energy project can move forward without legal friction.

The Atlas Solar review sits inside a project that has grown in stages for years. In 2020, La Paz County executed an agreement with 174 Power Global to build a solar facility on about 4,000 acres of land conveyed to the county, and the Bureau of Land Management said the project could generate up to 850 megawatts. County records show the Atlas Solar IV lease was approved on July 1, 2024, covering 557.245 acres of the existing lease area. On Sept. 2, 2025, supervisors approved a first amendment adding 1,778.743 acres of existing option areas.

Atlas Solar II also has been moving through the county process. County minutes and agenda records show an Atlas Solar II assignment and new lease involving 701.539 acres, which helps explain why both Atlas Solar II and Atlas Solar IV appeared on the June 23 agenda. The earlier approvals suggest the county has been steadily converting option areas into active lease status as the project footprint expands.

The broader land-use backdrop reaches beyond Parker. Federal records have tied La Paz County solar expansion to roughly 4,800 acres of BLM-managed public land, while other projects in the region, including Atlas North Solar near Tonopah and the Ranegras Plains Solar and Storage project, show how much of western Arizona is being pulled into the same transmission and permitting corridor. The June 23 session placed La Paz County squarely at the center of that continuing buildout.