There has been much publicity and debate around the deployment of large- and small-scale solar projects in the Blue Hill area. Much of the “debate” has been held in the context of public hearings and letters to the Weekly Packet—neither being a great forum for exchange of information.
On Monday, we’ll review the debate as it has been shaped to date, continue the discussion and, hopefully, begin to separate fact from fiction.
Among the specific questions to be discussed are:
- To what degree should large-scale solar “farms” be specifically regulated on the Blue Hill Peninsula? For example,
- Should these regulations be structured to ensure minimal safety standards and only moderate impacts on the scenic and other resources, or
- should they be constructed in a more restrictive way that effectively discourages/prohibits large scale (say, 5+ acre) farms?
- One of the factors that has come to light is that Versant Power can (and does) limit connectivity of solar power producers to its local substation, which has limited capacity.
- Should this limited resource be protected to ensure that small-scale producers (like rooftop arrays) can be assured of access to net metering connections to Versant?
- If capacity were set aside, how can we ensure that it is actually used in a timely manner?
