HOWARD COUNTY, Texas — A unique new business is coming to Howard County, as Samsung will be building a battery storage facility northeast of Big Spring.
County Commissioners have agreed on a contract with the tech company after working towards an agreement for a year-and-a-half.
“We’re real excited to welcome Samsung to Howard County," said Howard County Judge Randy Johnson.
There is plenty of wind in West Texas -- and out in Howard County -- Samsung sees it as an attractive resource thanks to wind turbines.
“As they generate energy, the batteries will store excess energy – electricity that’s not being used by the grid at that time – and then they will turn around and sell it back into the grid when there’s a demand later on, so they’ll make some money," Judge Johnson said.
The facility will be located somewhere north of the Sand Springs area east of Big Spring with equipment and containers.
Judge Johnson explained what they gain from this development.
“It’s a good way to increase the tax values here which is the part that, as that goes up, that means the individual taxpayer – their burden goes down – so, we think that’s a positive thing," Judge Johnson said. "And then, I think the other part is the name Samsung – it’s a very recognizable name and so we’re excited to have a big corporation like that that’s interested in Howard County and willing to invest here.”
County commissioners agreed to the deal during their May 28th meeting.
On Monday, they approved a reinvestment zone for other tax entities -- such as Howard College -- to benefit from Samsung’s business too.
“It should be a win-win, right?" Judge Johnson said. "We certainly -- as a taxing entity -- we want to make sure that we’re doing the right thing that’s going to help our taxpayers, and we’d like to set it up where other taxing entities or other parts of our community win also, and we think this is a good agreement towards that.”
Having a company like Samsung in Howard County might be just the start.
“It’s a big name and our economic development corporation [has] been working to try and bring in different groups," Judge Johnson said. "This is one that they’re excited about bringing in, and so we’ve coordinated with them and feel like it’s a big enough name that it will help us bring in some other investment groups – some other groups that would like to invest in Howard County.”