Brian Shane

Staff Writer

A proposed utility-scale solar power project on the edge of Berlin has been rejected by Worcester County leaders, though it still has a chance of being kept alive by state officials in the long run.

The developer, TurningPoint Energy, presented plans Oct. 1 for a 35-acre solar panel farm to the Worcester County Commissioners, who unanimously voted to reject the proposal.

District 3 Commissioner Eric Fiori expressed concerned about putting a renewable energy project on a site already designated for future growth and residential development.

“We have very limited access to public water and sewer in many of our districts,” he said. “So, we’re moving this large parcel – which was obviously by its zoning code, you know, designated for residential – pulling it, and putting solar panels on this particular property. It’s really kind of affecting the way we’ve planned the growth of Berlin and growth of Worcester County. I think there’s a lot of better sites than this particular one.”

The 5-megawatt project slated for a triangular site off Old Ocean City Boulevard had been in the works for about 18 months. Documents provided by TurningPoint describe the site as having solar panels 15 feet tall, and about 4 by 8 feet in size. Construction would take about 6-9 months. The project would connect to Delmarva Power conduits.

The solar farm would have a life expectancy of 35-40 years. Contingency funding to cover the cost of the county’s eventual decommissioning of the solar farm at the end of its useful life is a planning requirement of the developer.

TurningPoint could have started by applying for a solar farm certification from the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC), the body that oversees such projects in Maryland. Instead, it chose to open a line of dialogue first with county officials, according to Jennifer Keener, Worcester County’s Director of Development Permitting and Review.

Now, given officials’ rejection of the proposal, Keener said the county will prepare a letter sharing the commissioners’ views, which then will be sent to the PSC.

Regardless of the commissioners’ rejection, the project on its face likely faced an uphill battle anyway: Keener reported that the developer’s plans do not comport with Worcester County’s current zoning regulations – solar farms also aren’t allowed in any residential district without exception – or its comprehensive plan, which favors residential growth.

“Given the location of the property, it’s not consistent with our comprehensive plan. It’s in a growth area. I don’t find it consistent with our zoning because it’s in a zoning district that we don’t allow them in,” Keener told the commissioners Tuesday.

Despite local rejection of the proposal, the PSC could still green-light the project as it sees fit. Maryland courts held in 2019 that the PSC has final say in the siting of utility-scale projects, preempting local zoning. From there, a site plan would be subject to approval by the county’s Technical Review Committee and the Planning Commission, and would be subject to a public hearing.

TurningPoint Energy is a privately-held developer of large-scale solar farms, with eight of the company’s 25 total projects completed in Maryland. The company also has solar farms built in New Mexico, Rhode Island, Maine, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Texas.

Its largest project to date, a 200-megawatt solar farm in New Mexico, went online June 1 and the company is now making plans to expand into Illinois and Delaware, according to information on its website.