The Green River Energy Center, Utah's largest solar and battery storage facility, has officially begun operations in Emery County following nearly a decade of planning and development. The $1.1 billion project combines massive solar arrays with large-scale battery technology to bolster the state's energy supply.
Facility scale and technical details
The facility, located on approximately 3,200 acres of privately owned land north of Moore, consists of nearly 1 million solar panels and a 400-megawatt battery energy storage system. According to Moab Times reporting, the project is led by Salt Lake City-based rPlus Energies.
Projected energy generation and storage
Luigi Resta, CEO of rPlus Energies, stated that the facility is expected to generate enough electricity annually to power the equivalent of roughly 10% of Utah households. The project's battery component, capable of storing up to 1,600 megawatt-hours of electricity, was expanded from an original design of 400 megawatt-hours during development to address the increasing importance of energy storage.
Official commissioning and state initiatives
Governor Spencer Cox joined local officials, landowners, and contractors at a commissioning ceremony on Monday, June 23, to celebrate the project's completion. Cox identified the center as the first major project contributing to his 'Operation Gigawatt' initiative, which aims to more than double Utah's electricity production over the next decade.
Energy strategy and growing demand
During the ceremony, the Governor emphasized that the project represents an 'energy addition' strategy rather than a replacement of existing resources. He noted that while the nearly eight years required for planning and permitting presented significant hurdles, the project demonstrates how the state can meet growing demand from population growth and the expansion of energy-intensive data centers.
Grid integration and regional infrastructure
The Green River Energy Center will feed electricity into PacifiCorp's regional power grid, which provides service to customers in Utah and five other Western states. The project's location was chosen due to Emery County's existing transmission infrastructure and a long history of energy production.
Emery County Commissioner Dennis Worwood noted that the facility allows the region to continue its tradition of exporting energy. While the county has exported coal resources via local power lines for approximately 50 years, Worwood said the new project will allow the community to 'export some of our sunshine over these same power and transmission lines.'
The development has provided a new economic use for land that ranch owner Glendon “Woody” Johnson described as having limited agricultural potential due to a lack of irrigation water. Johnson, who leased about 2,300 acres for the project, noted that the land was previously only useful for temporary cattle grazing.
By leasing the acreage, Johnson stated the arrangement created a dependable source of income while ensuring the ranch's most productive farmland remains in active agricultural production.
The economic impact for Emery County includes an expected $55 million in property tax revenue over the first 20 years of the facility's operation, benefiting local schools and other taxing entities. Commissioner Worwood noted that this additional revenue is already providing local governments with increased flexibility to invest in emergency services and budget adjustments.
However, Emery County Commission Vice Chair Jordan Leonard cautioned that long-term planning is necessary because industrial facilities generate less tax revenue as they depreciate over time. The commission is currently discussing ways to use the revenue for long-term infrastructure projects.
Construction of the massive facility required significant regional labor and resources, including 484 battery units, 385 miles of underground cable, and more than 133,000 steel piles. Jared Ewan, construction manager for rPlus Energies, said the company intentionally utilized eastern Utah contractors, such as Emery County-based TSJ Construction and Carbon County-based Bodec Electric and BHI.
In addition to the local economic benefits, rPlus and its partners have committed $375,000 to endowed scholarship programs at Utah State University-Eastern.
