SALISBURY – A discussion on solar development in Wicomico County highlighted a council work session last week.
Land use and real estate attorney Ryan Showalter met with the Wicomico County Council to discuss the county’s role in solar development months after Councilman Bill McCain first proposed zoning regulations for solar energy systems.
“I’m not here to advocate for any particular position necessarily,” Showalter said last week. “Mr. McCain asked me to provide general background information to you about utility-scale solar in the state of Maryland and the role of state and local governments under the current regulatory structure.”
In May, McCain brought the issue of solar development in rural areas to the council’s attention, arguing the importance of having regulations in the county’s zoning code before major solar energy projects came to Wicomico.
Showalter’s presentation to the council last week highlighted Maryland’s standards for renewable energy. He said those standards required state electric utilities to obtain a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources, or to buy renewable energy credits to offset the use of nonrenewable power.
In Maryland, he noted, the General Assembly has required 14.5% of power to come from renewable energy by 2030.
“If you assume 100% of the new solar to be used in the state of Maryland will come from ground-mounted, not rooftops … we need about 38,000 acres of new land-based solar,” he said.
Officials have noted the Eastern Shore’s rural landscape makes it an ideal location for utility-scale energy projects. But McCain noted Wicomico was one of the only Eastern Shore counties without zoning codes to address solar development.
“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel when there are seven or eight other counties here on the shore that have done this,” he said. “We can pick and choose what works best, and what works best for us.”
Showalter noted different counties have taken different approaches to zoning. While some have developed overlay zoning districts or special exception requirements, he said, others have established project caps or have prohibited solar development on lands with other important uses such as farmland, forestland and historical sites.
He added that the Public Service Commission – charged with reviewing and approving new electric generation projects – must also consider the county’s position on local solar development.
“It doesn’t require the Public Service Commission to implement local zoning, it doesn’t require them to defer to local zoning, it doesn’t even require them to accept or follow local zoning,” he said, “but it does require that they do give due consideration to the local government perspective …”
Councilman Joe Holloway questioned the urgent need to develop local solar regulations.
“Should we wait to see where the state is headed on this, or is this something we should rush into?” he said.
Showalter said he believed it was better to have regulations in place that address size, scope and aesthetic concerns before solar developers come to Wicomico.
“I’m not opposed to regulations,” he said. “And frankly, having more clarity upfront that’s reliable and applied consistently is better for everybody, better for the public and better for the developers.”
Officials pointed out that there hadn’t been too much concern for solar development in Wicomico, citing transmission capacity issues and land fragmentation as major factors.
“A lot of our farms have been divided over the years,” McCain said. “So it’s hard to find that uninterrupted, 400- or 500-acre cleared tracts of land that’s isolated …”
But Councilman Josh Hastings said he was eager to see Wicomico County address solar development.
“One way or another we are moving as a society toward renewable energy, and that’s not going to stop,” he said.
Councilman John Cannon also agreed to exploring regulations.
“A lot of companies coming here want to know what the playing field is,” he said. “I think it’s important to establish that to a certain degree.”
After further discussion, the council agreed to revisit the issue with the county’s planning and zoning department at a future work session.