Regulation around solar energy systems must weigh present, future needs
It’s a popular point of discussion at municipal meetings lately: How will the installation of solar energy systems go? What defines a solar energy system? And what rules need to be in place around their use?
It’s a relatively new conversation to Butler County municipalities. We saw Jefferson Township supervisors approve an update to the township’s ordinance about installation of solar energy systems in the municipality earlier this week. This month, Buffalo Township supervisors tabled a decision on whether to grant Atlanta-based energy company SolAmerica a conditional use permit to operate solar farms on two sites in the township.
The decision in Buffalo followed comments from the community that raised concerns.
Tom Goldscheitter, treasurer for the Butler County Farm Bureau, attended the meeting to share how the state had lost hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland between 2012 and 2014 — before solar farms were a concern.
“So now something else has come up that’s going to take more farm ground away,” he said about solar farms. “Because there’s less farm ground due to housing plans and everything else, and now solar farms, it’s getting more and more expensive to farm.”
Another resident spoke to the aesthetic.
The ordinance ultimately approved in Jefferson Township requires that owners of solar systems decommission their systems within 12 months of the end of their useful life, at their own expense, and enter into a security agreement with the township for 110% of the estimated decommissioning cost.
When making decisions about solar, leaders must ensure they are thinking about the immediate and the long-term consequences of their decisions; they must look at the big picture.
— TL
