$1.7 Billion Solar Farm Breaks Ground on Texas Coal Land
Construction started this week on the Big Rooter Power solar farm in Bremond, Texas, a city roughly halfway between Dallas and Houston. The project will place a 1.2-gigawatt solar array and battery storage system on land currently used by the Calvert surface coal mine, a 19-million-ton lignite operation adjacent to the Twin Oaks coal-fired power plant.
Developer Panamint Capital, a Nevada-based investment firm backed by private equity firm KKR, claims Big Rooter will be the largest solar array ever built at a brownfield site in North America. The total price tag is $1.7 billion.
1.2 GW The capacity of the Big Rooter solar farm, enough to power roughly 240,000 average Texas homes at peak output.
The Twin Oaks coal plant and Calvert mine will continue operating alongside the new solar project. Panamint acquired the coal assets in 2023 with the stated goal of using existing site infrastructure to expand clean generation at lower cost. The company launched in 2019 specifically to build lower-emission facilities on active or former fossil fuel sites.
Texas Solar Is Already Overtaking Coal in 2026
Big Rooter arrives as Texas solar reaches a milestone. In 2026, solar is expected to generate more electricity than coal in the state for the first time. Demand is rising fast, driven by data center construction, manufacturing expansion, and increased air-conditioning load from more frequent extreme heat events.
Brownfield solar development has a specific policy appeal: it avoids new land-use conflicts by siting arrays on already-disturbed industrial land. Repurposing coal sites also preserves transmission infrastructure, which is one of the biggest bottlenecks slowing grid expansion across the country.
“We believe deploying new capacity at existing energy sites is the clearest way to benefit communities, ratepayers, and the environment alike.”
Apolka Totth, CEO, Panamint Capital, August 2026
Federal clean energy tax credits, including the Investment Tax Credit for solar and the standalone storage credit, remain available for projects like Big Rooter. These credits, established under the Inflation Reduction Act, have supported a wave of large-scale solar investment in Texas and other high-sun states. Any future congressional action to reduce or repeal those credits would directly affect project economics for similar brownfield developments in the pipeline.
What You Can Do Now
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Contact your U.S. House representative at (202) 224-3121 and tell them to oppose any reconciliation provisions that cut or cap the Investment Tax Credit. Brownfield solar projects like Big Rooter depend on these credits to make the economics work. Find your rep at house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative.
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Contact the Public Utility Commission of Texas at (512) 936-7000 and urge commissioners to prioritize interconnection queue reform. Texas has thousands of megawatts of solar waiting for grid connection. Faster queue processing means more projects like Big Rooter come online sooner.
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Ask your state legislators to support brownfield energy siting bills. Texas and other states can speed clean energy deployment by creating permitting fast-tracks for solar on former industrial land. Find your Texas legislator at capitol.texas.gov/Home/Districts/House.
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Share the Calvert Mine project data with local elected officials in coal-adjacent communities. The economic case Panamint made for acquiring the site in 2023 is documented. Communities near retiring coal plants can use it to attract similar developers before sites go idle.
Sources
Grist: Texas Coal Mine Will Soon Be Home to a 1.2GW Solar Farm KFF: Investment Tax Credit Explained for Clean Energy Projects U.S. EIA: Texas Solar Generation Surpasses Coal for First Time in 2026 NREL: Brownfield Solar Siting Opportunities and Barriers Canary Media: Panamint Capital new Big Rooter Power Texas
[Callout: Largest brownfield solar site in North America.
Panamint Capital claim for Big Rooter Power, Bremond, Texas. Grist]