TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) – Residents of the Three Points community turned out in force this week to oppose a proposed solar and battery storage project that would be built on Arizona State Trust Land roughly 2 miles northeast of Robles Junction.
The project is being developed by Three Points Solar, a subsidiary of Spanish energy company Repsol.
Landowners in the area received a letter about the proposal two weeks ago. Repsol held a community meeting to answer questions about the project, drawing hundreds of residents who voiced opposition.
According to the letter sent to area landowners, the facility is expected to generate 500 megawatts of energy — enough to power more than 124,000 homes.
The company plans to lease 5,700 acres of Arizona State Trust Land, an area equivalent to 8 square miles. A Repsol representative said solar panels would be constructed on 2,000 of those acres.
The project would interconnect onto TEP’s Pinal West to South 345 kV line, according to a project brief provided by Repsol. The company said the project is expected to generate $200 million in tax revenue and approximately 600 local jobs during construction, with about a dozen permanent positions once operational.
Repsol said the project is set to begin construction in late 2027, with operations beginning in 2029.
Douglas Lowell, a fourth-generation cattle rancher and Three Points resident, said he helped form a group called Open Space Alliance in opposition to the proposal. He described his initial reaction to learning about the project’s scale.
“I couldn’t believe it, frankly — how big it was,” Lowell said.
Lowell said the project would dramatically change the landscape of the area, turning desert land along Ajo Way into rows of solar panels.
“It’s almost a dystopian concept to me, to see our beloved southern Arizona arboreal desert go that way,” he said.
Resident Danny Flores said the format of the community meeting left attendees feeling unheard.
“They came out here for an open forum to answer individual questions instead of a group,” Flores said. “The community wants to be heard, Pima County wants to be heard.”
Flores also raised questions about the project’s environmental and economic impact on existing landowners and the surrounding area.
“We should have environmental impact fees — what about the rancher that leases that land already and depends on that land, what about water, are there water impact fees, flooding, when they grade that land that goes into the Brawley Wash, where’s that water gonna go to other than the community?” Flores said.
Patricia McMahan, another Three Points resident, said the project’s footprint was the central concern for many who moved to the area specifically to avoid urban development.
“We don’t want that out here — that’s why we moved all the way outside the city limits,” McMahan said. “We want our open desert, not solar panels for 8 square miles or however many it is.”
Repsol declined a request for an on-camera interview, said the project is still in the planning stages, and the company has nothing more to share at this time.
Lowell said the opposition effort is ongoing and that the community meeting was only the beginning.
“We want to raise public opinion against it to the point where it’ll be unpalatable for them to vote yes,” he said.
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