Commissioner shares concerns about proposed solar panel bill

Charles County’s commissioners have been monitoring legislation related to solar panels for months now, worried that Charles and other rural communities may have to take on a burden to help Maryland meet renewable energy quotas.

Commissioner Gilbert “BJ” Bowling (D) shared his concerns at the board’s Feb. 27 meeting, saying, “My fear is that there’s going to be a push for solar panels in rural counties, taking up other land that could otherwise have commercial use.”

“There are bills coming out now that are state mandates on how we can zone locally,” Bowling said.

He raised concern over House Bill 1407, introduced by Del. C.T. Wilson (D-Charles), with one purpose of the bill being “prohibiting counties from establishing zoning laws or other regulations that restrict or prohibit the construction or operation of Tier 1 renewable source generating systems or facilities.”

Bowling worries that larger, more urban counties will outsource to cheaper, more rural land to help meet their renewable quotas.

Associate County Attorney Danielle Mitchell shared with Bowling that the bill would also require the Public Service Commission to study the electricity demand in each county and determine the amount of capacity of, and energy generation from, Tier 1 renewable sources needed in each county in Maryland to meet certain renewable energy portfolio standard requirements.

“There’s certain mandates we have to meet, but there needs to be a fair share here,” Bowling said.

Bowling said that it would be much harder for larger counties, such as Prince George’s, Montgomery or Baltimore, to meet the mandate than Charles.

He does not want other counties to pull from Charles County’s tax base, hurting funding for publicly funded organizations and systems, like public schools, colleges and the sheriff’s office.

Mitchell shared that House Bill 1407 is scheduled for a hearing Feb. 29 and that the Maryland Association of Counties is expected to oppose the bill.

“Before I go against our own delegate, I’d like to see if we can have a conversation with these concerns,” Bowling said.

Bowling shared that he would not be opposed to the bill if counties were able to deny further solar development if they are meeting their own quotas, saying that it would then be a common-sense bill.