Town of Homer Sets Public Hearing Date For Solar, Wind, & Hydro Moratorium

The Town of Homer has set a date for a public hearing regarding a proposed local law that would enact a 6-month moratorium on commercial solar, wind, and hydro electric projects within the Town of Homer. During Wednesday’s town board meeting, the board voted unanimously to set a date of Wednesday, October 8th at 6:30pm for the public hearing, prior to their board meeting for the month of October. 

According to the proposed local law drafted by Homer Town Council, Dan Ellis, the town says the current zoning regulations do not adequately address the type of energy production and storage for renewable energy projects. Town Supervisor Mike Park said during the meeting that the regulations are over ten years old and are outdated, adding that technology in renewable energy has greatly changed since along with new issues and concerns.

The moratorium, if passed by the town board, would be for 6-months to allow the town to analyze and determine appropriate revisions and amendments to their zoning laws. The Town of Homer has been working with the Cortland County Planning Department, who is working to create regulations that can be implemented in other municipalities throughout the county for unified regulations on renewable energy. The proposed law does allow a 6-month moratorium extension, if needed.

One major concern brought up by Chairman of the Town of Homer Planning Board, Mike McMahon, is the discovery of heavy metals in soil from decommissioned solar fields. McMahon highlighted that Ore-Ida will no longer buy potatoes from farm land that previously hosted a solar field due to heavy metals being found in the potatoes. He added the metals contaminate the soil during the decommissioning process and any new regulations that are created will require soil samples before the construction of solar fields, while the solar fields are in operation, and after their decommissioning. 

“We want to do [soil sampling] every 5 fives and after decommissioning do it again.”

McMahon said.

Mike McMahon has been working with Town Code Enforcement Officer, Kevin McMahon, on what will need to be done if contamination is found. He says he and Kevin are looking into what the necessary steps will be if contamination is found during soil sampling and what will have to be done. 

Another issue brought up was stable electricity current. Solar projects without battery storage to regulate the output of electricity current to power lines have the possibility of creating electricity spikes. These spikes can cause serious damage to properties and machinery near the solar fields that export power to nearby power lines and not sub-stations. Mike McMahon brought up additional news regarding battery storage saying Intertek is currently working to develop a battery storage system that is not lithium-ion and does not generate significant heat. 

However, even if the moratorium is passed and implemented, the town, along with any other municipality in the state, only has control for projects that produce less than 20 MegaWatts. Projects that are greater than 20MW go through the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting. One of those projects is the 90MW AES Solar Project, formally developed by EDF Renewables, which will move forward regardless of a moratorium. This project would be constructed in the Towns of Homer, Cortlandville, and Solon.