Saline County Commissioner Joe Hay spent a good portion of yesterday listening to county residents voice their concerns and dislikes for a proposed energy storage facility to be built a couple of miles north of Southeast of Saline school.

Today he spent time on the KSAL Morning News Extra talking about the reasons he voted to deny a request from the Texas based company, Power Plus from building an energy storage and transmit facility.

Even with yesterday’s vote, Hay says there could still be another chapter in the story for Power Plus.

Commissioners on Tuesday voted 4-1 to deny the project that would have allowed the business to place battery storage containers on a 40-acre plot north of K-4 Highway near E. McReynolds and S. Simpson Road.

The Planning Commission initially approved the permit on November 25th by a unanimous 8-0 vote after a public hearing and review of the application and staff report.

In addition to storing energy the business plan also called to compensate the community with over $18 million dollars paid to several entities over the next 20-years including USD 306 Southeast of Saline School District which was scheduled to receive $1,067,870 in the first year of operation.

Overall, citizens living near the proposed site voiced a belief that the industry did not fit the landscape or their rural lifestyle.

Listen to the interview with Commissioner Joe Hay here.