Calcasieu Parish’s new three-member committee voted to give two solar facility projects industrial ad valorem tax exemptions Tuesday. The meeting and vote represents the first under directives from Gov. Jeff Landry and Louisiana Economic Development, and echoes the Louisiana Board of Commerce and Industry’s June approval.

Saying yes to Crescent Coast Energy Center and Cajun Crossroads Energy Center was Anthony L. Bartie, president of the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury; Eric Tarver, president of the Calcasieu Parish School Board; and Nicole Ory, CFO Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.

In the past, the vote would have gone to each parish body for a vote instead of a single committee with representatives from each. Regardless of the committee’s vote, the final decision will be in Baton Rouge.

Cajun Crossroads Energy’s facility will be located at Birdnest Road and Kingfisher Drive in Ward One (the Moss Bluff area), and represents an estimated $56,875 investment. The estimated capital investment for the Crescent Coast Energy Center is $326,817, 853. That solar farm will be at 3682 Goos Road in Ward One.

The solar farm project has secured a 2400-acre tract that is planted in pines and spans into Jeff Davis Parish. Plans for the facility include a 50-foot landscape buffer to minimize public visibility and a 500-foot setback from any dwelling.

We’ve been working with the parish on this project for a better part of three years now, said Forrest Forster of Aypa Power. Aypa develops solar farms and batteries.

In addition to securing the site for the development, Aypa has been working with Entergy to connect the project to the electric grid.

“The approvals here this evening and throughout the summer will help enable us to start construction in 2025 and ultimately begin operations in late 2026,” Forster said.