CHESTERTOWN — On July 11, there will be a public hearing at the Kent County Courthouse for an issue that has been lying dormant for two years — the construction of a solar panel farm on Morgnec Road.
Urban Grid is located in the central portion of Kent County, east of Chestertown. If all goes to the company’s plan, Morgnec Solar LLC, owned by Urban Grid, will connect to the power grid via an existing Delmarva Power Substation adjacent to the project site.
The state recently approved of the project against the county and Chestertown’s wishes.
Urban Grid’s website lists the benefits of a solar field.
“The project will yield significant Real Property Tax revenue for Kent County for a lifetime,” it says, along with listing the environmental benefits of solar power.
The project poses “no material impact to the wetlands, cultural resources or threatens any endangered species,” according to Urban Grid.
Architect Tom Kocubinski and chair of the Kent County Conservation and Preservation Alliance Janet Christensen-Lewis would beg to differ.
“It’s 140,000 solar collectors. That’s a mile long,” Kocubinski said.
Not only do they disapprove now, he added, but the Kent County Commissioners did when the issue came up roughly two years ago.
On Feb. 1, 2022, at their regular meeting, the commissioners joined Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance in an appeal of the Public Service Commission’s approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the Morgnec Road Solar project.
And Chestertown was not on board either. Mayor David Foster didn’t see it as a suitable location at the time since eastward is their only direction to expand.
Foster said, “While we normally welcome solar power, the town also opposed that solar project because it was right in the middle of our only real opportunity for expansion of Chestertown.”
Kocubinski and others thought the issue was settled. However, a year ago a judge approved of the project, leading to heated discussions over the solar farm.
Those for the project say that these solar panels will save money and allow the community to “think globally while living locally.” They say that it will boost the economy, bringing revenue to a county desperate for it.
Opponents claim solar panel energy is not as environmentally friendly as once thought.
The solar panels utilize numerous materials — cobalt, nickel, cadmium, lithium, vanadium, graphite — the mining of which has been shown to damage the environment.
Opponents also point out once in operation, the solar field will be controlled from a distance, not by people in the county.
Instead of a solar farm of one mile frontage on Morgnec Road with a screening wall, KCPA proposes an alternative of berm, trees, shrubs and pedestrian amenities like a footpath.
All of this is likely to be discussed on July 11 at 1:30 p.m.
Most Popular
Comments / 0