Caroline County Democratic Club
General Meeting
Federalsburg Library & Online
4/15/2025 6:00pm
In attendance
Online: Ashley, Club/Corinna, Krista, Kennedy, Jess
In person: Corinna, Mike….
Social time was held from 5:30-6:00pm
Meeting officially brought to order by Corinna
Corinna introduced County Commissioner Larry Porter
Larry gave a history and overview of what is currently taking place in Caroline County in regards to solar panel projects.
2016-County commissioners knew legislation was coming for counties to adopt regulations for solar to control where panels could be placed (zoning), screening, buffering, leases (25-30 years), what happens after lease ends (who covers removal, where old panels go, etc). Commissioners wanted to make sure that solar companies put up 100% bond & cover the cost, not our farmers. They also wanted to insure that old panels were not put in our county landfill.
Public hearings were then held with farmers on both sides, as well as solar companies. At that time solar companies were being very aggressive with farmers, asking them what they clear for each acre and offering to give farmers $3,500/acre.
Mr. Porter made it clear that he will not vilify farmers, pointing out that we are all in different financial situations and it is an individual decision whether to sell/lease to solar companies.
A work group was formed with contract farmers, solar companies, and financial individuals to discuss utility scale solar (5 mega watts) for transmission.
It was noted that commercial solar is different, and individuals may have solar panels on their house roofs or chicken house roofs for example.
Mr. Porter briefly explained the plan for the brown field at the old landfill to be used for solar, as it cannot be used for anything else.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is made up of five people appointed by the governor that helps regulate energy. Mr. Porter noted that all five members are in the energy business and none are from the Eastern Shore. A Public Utility judge has the final approval, but PSC can decide zoning and rights.
This legislative session they heard about Senate Bill 931 and House Bill 1036 sponsored by Delegate CT Wilson from Montgomery County. Precedence was set by Washington County vs. Piedmont Energy in which the state won over the county over the handling of a major transmission line.
The new bill says PSC preempts the county level, giving no control to counties on location. It also caps the amount of money a county can tax for solar. A decommissioning bond can also be put in place and be net the salvage amount. They were able to negotiate doing away with the parts on decommissioning and the cap on tax.
There are 750 acres of solar panels in Greensboro. When the panels are activated the county will get $1 million each year in revenue.
About a month ago they started talking about where PSC saw these plans going and Primary Preservation Area (PPA) came up. PPA’s are farmland, what Mr. Porter considers prime land. It was determined that counties had to give 5% of PPA land decisions to PSC. In Caroline County 5% of our PPA land would be 8,800 acres. The state of Maryland has over 100,000 acres of PPA, of which 50% are in five Eastern Shore counties, made up of flat, cheap land.
While this decision was declared a victory by some, Mr. Porter took time at MACO to explain why this was not a victory.
Governor Wes Moore signed Executive Orders pertaining to renewable energy goals to be achieved by 2035, like no gas cars, etc. According to the MD Energy Association in order to meet these goals you need 18,000-30,000 acres of land. Mr. Porter then pointed out what is the reason PSC claims to need 100,000 acres then. His second question to them was what if you cannot reach those goals by negotiating with farmers?
Currently we have no eminent domain to take land, so we need willing farmers. Today, in Caroline County, we are at 1,600 acres sold/leased to solar companies. We’ve been holding at this number for some time, so Mr. Porter assumes that everyone who was interested in selling or leasing land probably has already done so. Mr. Porter expressed concern about the need for control of additional acres. He is further concerned that the MD Energy Association opposed and testified against a bill to prohibit the state from taking land for solar.
Mr. Porter discussed the different perspectives of what constitutes a win as far as solar legislation is concerned, and how much control counties have.
The Farmer Alliance was formed and plans to push Governor Moore to veto the bills. Mr. Porter does not think Governor Moore will veto the bills, or if he were to do so, his veto will be overridden. Mr. Porter expressed concern about the future and that he knows people are making money and the solar industry is being subsidized by the state. Emphasizing how complicated this situation is.
Mr. Porter also addressed the second problem he has with solar is battery storage. When large solar arrays are put in, if the grid is full, they bring in cargo containers with lithium batteries to store the energy. One sales representative told Mr. Porter and Mr. Levengood that if a fire starts in a container you cannot put it out, and therefore must evacuate the county. Due to this issue, Mr. Porter fought for self-contained fire suppression systems to be put in containers. Both Mr. Porter & Mr. Levengood were volunteer firefighters. In addition they secured funding for firefighter training. However, the Solar Array & Battery Training Program bill died in committee. Mr. Porter noted that the gentleman who killed his proposed bill was put on the Public Service Commission (PSC) within 30 days.
Mr. Porter noted that he and Commission Breeding went to testify for the bill. The MD State Fire Marshal's Office has stopped revision to the code because a new corporal was put in place.
The bill that did pass, to allow 5% of PPA to be controlled by the Public Service Committee (PSC), will take effect October 1st. That means the PSC will have control of 8,800 acres of land in Caroline County, out of our 173,000 acres. However, we can go to court to fight their placements of solar projects.
Solar companies will make an application and the PSC will accept or deny. The solar companies themselves will then still have to make a deal with the farmer. Mr. Porter feels that the close a farmer’s land is to transmission, the more at risk they are. Emphasizing his point that once these goals are set, and all farmers that want to sell/lease have willingly done so, yet the goal is still not met, what will the state do at that point to meet the goals?
Mr. Porter then opened up the floor for questions.
Someone asked about leases and was told that the lease tells you what you can and cannot do with the land, for example preservation.
Someone asked if solar companies can come across your property if your neighbor sells their property and they need to run lines across your land.
Solar companies are saying you can go back to farming after their 25 year lease ends. However someone said it would take them 10 years to get their soil back to fertility to be able to successfully farm again.
It was noted that some solar companies are stripping the land of topsoil.
Mr. Porter mentioned that the commissioners developed a questionnaire for farmers to help inform them. Including making them aware that when your land is zoned for Ag and then you lease to a solar company and your zoning is then commercial, your tax bill will increase. It is also mentioned that solar leases are sold about four times.
Someone asked if it should be a flat percentage that the PSC can control in each county since county acreage in Maryland can vary so widely. We have 173,000 acres in PPA in Caroline, yet Montgomery County has about 90,000.
Someone raised concerns about gas vehicles and the dangers to our health.
Someone asked about the 2035 goals and what are our other options for meeting them in addition to solar. Mr. Porter said there are proposals for nuclear power to fast track the goals.
Electric cars and charging were brought up again by the same individual. Mr. Porter noted that if they started legislating that every house be built with charging capabilities, who would pay for that. He also noted that those with personal convictions regarding going more green may do so by adding solar panels to their houses and taking other measures as well.
Someone asked if the eminent domain bill passed. It got a hearing, but did not pass.
Mr. Porter pointed out that he is really trying to listen to both parties, he doesn’t think it’s reasonable to say we’ll never have solar, they tried to be proactive. He mentioned that Caroline didn’t get treated any differently than a county that banned it.
Someone mentioned using parking lots for solar. Mr. Porter agreed that we can use other areas instead of farmland, prime ag land.
Someone brought up how solar here won’t be benefiting the farms, the energy they create will go to the grid.
Someone brought up land integration.
Someone asked how many acres we have for solar currently.
1,660 acres have been approved for solar through public process
760 acres have fences up and trees planted
After some discussion, Mr. Porter mentioned tariffs and federal funding will impact all of this.
Mr. Porter mentioned he is on the State Critical Areas Commission and he is not seeing them weigh in on this. Someone mentioned their frustration with the commission.
Someone expressed concern that if you take away too much farmland then kids won’t continue to go into farming. Mr. Porter talked about Matt Jones’ 13 year old daughter that recently spoke to a joint session about what she, as a future farmer, is supposed to do while her land is used for 25 years for solar. While Del. Wilson assured her no one will take her land, Mr. Porter stated he doesn’t know how they can say that for certain. He pointed out she’s a generational farmer. And, while Mr. Wilson is an honest man, things can change as administrations change. Mr. Porter pointed out eminent domain isn’t around the corner, but it’s not impossible.
Corinna mentioned what President Biden did to introduce funding to get new farmers involved but noted that funding is not at risk under the current administration. She also mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, where President Biden set aside funding for Black farmers and discussed disparities in farming. Someone else mentioned how President Biden made it easier for land to stay in a family in the case of death and deed confusion. Corinna also reviewed some financial facts from the USDA website.
Someone raised concerns about tariffs and how we can make farming profitable in our county. Mr. Porter mentioned that farming is heavily subsidized as well, so we can go back and forth, but we’re not making any more farmland.
Someone asked if farmers are getting increased profits with the increased inflation. Mr. Porter reaffirmed the answer is no.
Someone brought up the Stockyard and Packers Act, which is over 100 years old, to protect small farmers.
Someone expressed their concern that the county only use good solar companies. To which Mr. Porter agreed, but noted that leases can be sold several times, so we have little control in that aspect.
To wrap up the meeting Mr. Porter gave a general update on the county, mentioning the commissioners are through the budget. This year there will be no property tax increase and the county is in good shape.
One more question was asked about each town having its own green shelter. Mr. Porter responded that each town has a shelter with generators.
Corinna pointed out that anyone with further questions is welcome to email Mr. Porter, who shared his business card with those interested.
Mr. Porter also gave the commissioner’s meeting schedule and discussed the public comment portion, welcoming all to participate.
Corinna adjourned the meeting
Attached are the meeting notes, as taken by the lovely Jess Taylor (thank you!)