A proposal to construct a photo voltaic farm on agricultural land in Westminster that was opposed by the Board of Carroll County Commissioners is scheduled for a public listening to subsequent week with the Maryland Public Service Commission.
The state fee will maintain a web based listening to at 7 p.m., Wednesday, earlier than Public Utility Law Judge Kristin Case Lawrence, for a proposal from Chaberton Solar Pine Rock LLC, to construct a 3.0-megawatt photo voltaic farm on 18 acres of agricultural land at 1151 Sullivan Road.
The Public Service Commission is the state company that regulates fuel, electrical, phone, water and sewer firms in Maryland. The fee additionally has broader authority to supervise and regulate the actions of public service firms.
Carroll County commissioners, in a May 30 letter to the state fee, said that whereas they assist photo voltaic improvement in Carroll, they oppose development of the proposed facility.
“The county has developed photo voltaic farms on three county-owned properties up to now few years and is now planning a fourth,” the letter stated. “The county just isn’t towards photo voltaic, however we’re involved about its location. We imagine in clever photo voltaic improvement that maximizes the potential for power sources with out vital adverse affect on the nation’s agriculture and the its manufacturing.
In February, Chaberton Solar Pine Rock utilized to the Public Service Commission for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, which supplies an applicant the authority to construct an power producing station or high-voltage transmission line in Maryland, based on within the fee’s information launch.
The proposed photo voltaic facility consists of a ground-mounted photo voltaic array, a 7-foot-tall perimeter fence, vegetative screening and mechanical and electrical tools, the appliance states. The undertaking proposes to attach Baltimore Gas and Electric’s Westminster substation by way of an present feeder on Sullivan Road.
In July 2023, after a number of public hearings, work periods and a advice from the Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission, the Carroll County commissioners adopted an ordinance stating that amenities producing photo voltaic power just isn’t allowed on the farm within the province; as an alternative, it have to be constructed on land zoned for business and industrial use.
“We are joyful to work with the state to determine a path to steadiness such aggressive land use conflicts,” the letter stated. “Therefore, we imagine the Public Service Commission shouldn’t override native zoning necessities to approve photo voltaic amenities.”
The Carroll commissioners, of their letter, stated that turning agricultural land into photo voltaic amenities would have a “vital” adverse affect.
“We want photo voltaic, however not on the sacrifice of our most efficient and sustainable farms,” the letter stated.
To remark throughout subsequent week’s listening to, e-mail [email protected] by midday on June 25. Participants will obtain an e-mail with a hyperlink to hitch the digital platform. The public listening to may also be streamed dwell on the YouTube channel of the general public utility legislation choose division, MD PSC PULJs, at https://bit.ly/2X6wLiP.
The listening to will embody a presentation by the developer, temporary feedback from the Power Plant Research Program of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Office of People’s Counsel and fee workers. The public will then be given a possibility to remark.
Written feedback could also be submitted electronically by way of the fee’s on-line portal at https://www.psc.state.md.us/make-a-public-comment/, or by mail. Comments despatched by mail needs to be addressed to: Jamie Bergin, Chief Clerk, Maryland Public Service Commission, William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul St., sixteenth Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. All feedback should confer with Case No. 9725.
In addition to the web docket, the appliance is out there for public assessment or copying on the Carroll County Department of Planning and Land Management, 225 North Center St., in Westminster.
