Commission Unanimously Approves Table Top Solar Park After Extensive Discussion
The Pinal County Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved two applications for the Table Top Solar Park project during its meeting on May 15. The commission approved both the rezoning application (PZ-025-24) and the Planned Area Development (PAD) overlay (PZ-PD-014-24) for the 643.47-acre solar energy facility southwest of Casa Grande.
Project Details
EDP Renewables North America (EDPR) will develop the Table Top Solar Park, a 96-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) solar facility with battery energy storage. The project is in between Casa Grande and Interstate 8 in unincorporated Pinal County.
The project will include a solar array of PV modules, a battery energy storage system (BESS), and a project substation. The conceptual site plan shows two potential locations for the battery storage, substation, and operations and maintenance building—one on the northeast side and one on the southeast side of the project site. The final location will be determined during the site plan review.
The electricity collected by the solar panels will be routed to the BESS to be stored for later use, or to the APS Thornton Substation, approximately 3 miles northeast of the project site.
Location and Benefits
The project site sits on privately owned land in unincorporated Pinal County, approximately 1.25 miles southwest of Casa Grande’s city limits and about 6 miles south of central Casa Grande. It is north west of the intersection at Bianco and Cornman Roads. While outside city limits, the site falls within Casa Grande’s planning area.
During the meeting, the applicant highlighted several reasons for choosing this location, including the flat terrain, proximity to transmission infrastructure, and its location near Casa Grande’s industrial hub which creates significant demand for electricity.
The remote desert location, with the nearest residents over half a mile away, makes it suitable for this use. The property also has natural buffers with arterial roadways on all sides, ensuring it will never have immediately adjacent neighbors.
The applicant emphasized the project’s economic benefits, including approximately 200 construction jobs, five full-time operational jobs, and an estimated $40 million in local tax revenue over the project’s lifespan of at least 35 years. These tax benefits will go directly to Pinal County, Casa Grande Elementary School District Number 4, the Casa Grande Union High School District, and the community college, as well as a few other recipients according to Andrew Yancey the attorney representing the applicants.
Battery Fire Safety Concerns
Commissioner Tom Scott raised detailed questions about fire safety, particularly regarding the battery storage system. He referenced a fire at a battery facility in Monterey County, California, that burned for five days in January 2025.
Andy Blum, a fire protection engineer with Fire & Risk Alliance who consults on the project, addressed these concerns. Blum explained that the industry has significantly improved battery storage safety in recent years.
“What we have done in the last four or five years is really move away from that approach,” Blum said, referring to the Monterey facility’s design. “Instead of large buildings filled with batteries, we now use smaller modular cabinets that are about 20 feet long, eight feet deep, and nine feet tall.”
This design change limits potential fires to a much smaller area. “If we do have an event where there is a fire, it won’t go on for days and days and days, like when it happened in California,” Blum explained.
Blum stated that current industry standards and NFPA guidance support separation between cabinets to prevent spreading fires.
When Scott asked about fire response approaches, Blum acknowledged that in most cases, firefighters would monitor and contain the fire rather than actively trying to extinguish it. “Spraying water on it actually somewhat can be counterintuitive. It can actually extend the event,” Blum said.
Commissioner Mooney inquired about firefighter training, and Blum confirmed that NFPA 855 requires pre-incident planning and annual training for local fire departments.
Commissioner Scott also referenced a fire at a NextEra facility last year, noting “NextEra had a fire over there last year. They had lots of grass or whatever it is over there and created a problem there,” highlighting his concerns about vegetation management and fire prevention.
Landscaping and Buffers
The project will include significant buffers and landscaping around its perimeter. Andrew Yancey explained that a 50-foot industrial buffer will surround the entire project, in addition to right-of-way dedications for surrounding roads.
“We really worked extensively with staff and our landscaping consultant on an appropriate vegetative plan for that industrial buffer,” Yancey stated. “Our proposal is to leave in place the native vegetation that’s within the buffer. If there is something that’s disturbed during the construction process, we’re going to re-vegetate that.”
The re-vegetation standard will include one mesquite tree and two creosote bushes per 50 linear feet, mimicking the natural desert state. This approach aligns with the project’s low water usage goals, as it won’t require permanent irrigation.
Additionally, a six-foot masonry wall will be constructed along the entire western boundary and part of the southern boundary adjacent to CR-2 zoning—a mile and a half of CMU wall—providing screening for potential future residential development.
Weed Control and Maintenance
Commissioner Scott also inquired about weed mitigation plans. Andrew Yancey explained that while detailed site management plans will be developed later, EDPR typically follows practices similar to their other Brittlebush project in Coolidge.
The typical approach involves clearing the land, installing the solar equipment, and then returning with native seed. The vegetation is managed through mowing or spraying to prevent excessive growth that could create fire concerns.
Yancey mentioned that the Coolidge project uses third-party company Industrial Weed Control, which may apply products such as TerraVue and Arsenal on an annual basis.
Power Destination Questions
Vice Chairman Robert Klob raised concerns about who benefits from the solar energy produced at the facility, questioning whether it would lower electric bills for Pinal County residents or benefit people in other areas.
“We got this big grid that we gotta power, and we got Phoenix as a big, ugly monster,” Klob said. “I understand that. But, you know, I live not far from there, and how does this help me? Does this lower my bill, or does this help manage the bill of someone in Scottsdale?”
Yancey provided a detailed response, explaining that while they don’t yet have a power purchase agreement, the electricity would physically flow to the nearest demand point, which would be local users like the Lucid Motors facility and other industrial operations in Casa Grande.
“The electron that goes on the grid, it doesn’t know who it was sold to,” Yancey said. “I like to think about an analogy of a reservoir, cause we understand water a little better. We can see that as tangible. Electricity is always moving and, and you can’t really see it. So if there’s someone who has a reservoir and they buy water from four or five different sources and it all flows in the reservoir, then they sell it to 10 other users. They know how much they have coming in, they know how much they have coming out. They can’t tell you that you’ll get a molecule of water from a particular source, cause it all goes into the reservoir. It’s the same with the grid.”
Strong Support, No Opposition
The project received support from the City of Casa Grande, with former Mayor Craig McFarland providing a letter in support. Senior Planner Glenn Bak reported “No items of opposition received” for the project.
The rezoning changes the property from General Rural (GR) to Industrial (I-3) with a PAD overlay that restricts the use to solar energy production. The project aligns with the site’s Comprehensive Plan land use designation of “Green Energy Production,” which was approved unanimously by the Planning and Zoning Commission and Board of Supervisors in November 2023.
Bak noted that Casa Grande has no objections to the project as it is consistent with Casa Grande’s General Plan Rural Land Use Classification, which encourages utility-scale solar.
EDPR’s Experience
According to their presentation, EDPR is a national renewable energy company that develops, constructs, owns, and operates renewable energy projects throughout North America. The company has approximately 8,900 megawatts of utility-scale projects in operation.
In Arizona, EDPR operates the 158-megawatt Sun Streams Solar Park in Maricopa County, which has been online since 2019. They also developed the 200-megawatt Brittlebush Solar Park in Coolidge, which went online in 2024, and are currently constructing the 200-megawatt Flatland Storage project, also in Coolidge.
Path to Construction
With approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission, the project will now proceed to the Pinal County Board of Supervisors for final approval. If approved, the applicant will need to submit detailed site plans and construction drawings before breaking ground.
EDPR anticipates receiving all necessary permits and approvals by the second quarter of 2026, with construction expected to take approximately 16 months. The project could begin commercial operations in 2027 or early 2028, with an anticipated useful life of at least 35 years.
