BAYBORO – In a hush-hush & lengthy, public barred, closed door session Monday night, the seven-member County Commission reviewed an existing 11-page ordinance – approved eight years ago – which governs the construction, and ‘decommissioning’ of solar energy facilities.
The stated purpose of the meeting: To decide if a moratorium on Solar and Wind Farms should be established to review and study the future impacts of Solar and Wind Farms in Pamlico County.
Like many rural counties in eastern North Carolina, Pamlico already has at least two large solar farms – Cypress Creek Renewables in Alliance and Coogee Solar in Grantsboro. Different zip codes perhaps, but the sites are within walking distance of each other.
Under the usual business model for most solar farms, land is typically leased, with landowners receiving regular rental payments from solar developers for the use of their land to install and operate photovoltaic solar arrays.
These lease agreements are typically private transactions, which means deals are often crafted away from local government scrutiny. Regulations only kick in when so-called ‘site plans’ are submitted to the county-employed Building Inspector.
In Pamlico County, the inspector is Mr. Ray Bennett – who was invited to join county officials. Sources later told this newspaper Bennett reported he has not yet received any paperwork that would confirm rumors of future solar projects.
Solar farms are not usually embraced as a good thing by rural counties:
A) Successful lobbying of the NC General Assembly has ensured
that solar farms may EXCLUDE from taxation 80 percent of the
appraised value of a solar energy electric system. That, of
course, affects financial coffers.
B) Any tax value that exists is fully depreciated over the useful life of the
system. Since solar panels do not last forever, county officials
dread the prospect of a developer going kaput before x-thousand
arrays are properly recycled or discarded.
Look for county officials to beef up the existing solar ordinance – likely sooner rather than later.
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