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A solar energy company is proposing to build two projects on farms in the Ag Reserve. A meeting on one of those projects, to be built in Dickerson, will be held on Wed. June 19 at 6:00pm at the Upper Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Department, 19801 Beallsville Rd in Beallsville. We urge Ag Reserve and area residents to attend. The company proposing the projects—Chaberton Solar—is hosting the meeting. The second proposed project would, if approved, be built in Poolesville. Both proposed projects are larger than Montgomery County law would permit on farmland in the Ag Reserve. County law also prohibits solar arrays on prime arable land in the Ag Reserve. Chaberton asserts that a new state law enables them to circumvent county law. The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) has regulatory purview over solar projects that exceed a certain magnitude of energy output. The two projects are the first tests of whether the Commission (and thus the state) will defer to county law when evaluating such solar projects. Under the new state law, the Commission must give “due consideration” to local ordinance. All that is complex, as are the issues involved with siting such projects and distributing the energy they generate. SCA believes the PSC should defer to county law. As such, we oppose both projects as currently proposed. No solar projects in the Ag Reserve should supplant farming on arable land (with class 1 or 2 soils). Nor should they inflate the value of farmland which could incentivize farmers to lease their land to solar developers rather than farm it themselves or lease it to farmers. We fully support expanding solar and other renewable energy generation in Montgomery County to replace fossil fuel-based energy. Just not on usable and persistently threatened farmland. Mark Your CalendarsThe PSC is required to hold pubic hearings on the two projects. A virtual public hearing for the Dickerson project is scheduled for Wednesday July 10 at 7 pm. Anyone can testify. To do so, send an email to psc.pulj@gmail.com by July 9 at 12:00 pm. The session will be live streamed. We’ll send you more information on that in July. Written comments on the proposed project may be submitted electronically through the PSC’s website. All comments must include reference to Case No. 9726.
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