Pegasus viability explored at BOS

MOHAVE COUNTY – The viability of multi-billion-dollar solar powered data center planned south of Kingman off of Interstate 40 was discussed during the March 15 Mohave County Board of Supervisors meeting in Kingman. The Pegasus Group in June, 2019 said it would develop phase one of its project within six months.

The project proposed in the Griffith Energy Industrial corridor south of Kingman never got off the ground before a second phase was announced in Dec., 2019. The county pledged upgrade of a section of Apache Road near the proposed project, but Dist. 5 Sup. Ron Gould opposed award of bid for the work, primarily for lack of any on-site progress.

“This company is essentially defunct. They currently are auctioning off their equipment. They fired all the employees,” Gould said. “It’s the only business that’s on this section of road and the county has a lot of other transportation needs where this $800,000 could be better spent. This was moved to the head of the line because of this Pegasus project and their `Hive’. It has not materialized.”

Economic Development Director Tami Ursenbach explained there are reasons that development is so long delayed.

“They had an employee that has put them in quite a bit of turmoil and debt, of which they are almost finished,” Ursenbach told supervisors. She said they changed Chief Executive Officers and are also converting to ground planted rather than trailer mounted solar panels to generate energy for the data storage enterprise.

“They’re finalizing the last bit of engineering and they’re actually going to put solar panels in the ground instead of trailers. So, the trailers have been out for auction. They don’t need them at this point,” said Ursenbach.

Dist. 1 Sup. Travis Lingenfelter expressed concern about whether it’s wise to spend taxpayer funds to support a project that hasn’t advanced itself. “At this point it feels pretty speculative to me,’’ he said.

Gould called it “a dubious project that may not even go forward.”

Supervisors were also told that the proposed improvement, as well as the full build out of Apache Road to the Oatman Highway, would benefit many other property owners and the general public. Ursenbach said she lost a prominent prospect that might have located just south of the Pegasus site were it not for the poor condition of Apache Road.

Other board members noted that the county has been working to develop the industrial corridor for some 20 years. They agreed that the proposed road improvement is another of many needed infrastructure upgrades.

“I think this is a good investment and it’s not just for the one campany that’s have a slow start because of internal problems,” Bishop said.

Gould dissented in the 4-1 vote awarding a $782,000 bid to a Utah company for the project. Roughly $18,000 more is approved for a contingency fund to ensure project completion.

Dave Hawkins