CORUNNA – A New York-based solar energy development company plans to invest $250 million in a solar farm in Shiawasee County in central Michigan.

Ranger Power from Brooklyn, New York, filed paperwork seeking a special use permit from the planning commission for the 1,200 acre development.

Before the project can go forward, the planning commission will have to make a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners, which will hold public hearings before making a decision.

Sergio Trevino, the director of environmental permitting, told a Flint TV station reporter the company can build the solar farm without any permanent changes to the land. It will be installed on solar racks into the ground without any concrete foundations. Solar racks would be placed next with some collection lines bring all the power to a substation.

He expects the project, which would be built in Hazelton and Venice townships, to generate about $1 million a year in property tax revenue. He hopes to start construction sometime next year.

Some 300 construction jobs will be created. Land owners will receive payments. Justin Horvath, president of the Shiawassee Economic Development Partnership, said “the economic boon to the Shiawassee County is going to be huge.”