Page County officials have extended the timeframe restricting the submission of future wind energy permit applications to the county. Meeting in regular session Tuesday morning, by a 2-1 vote, the Page County Board of Supervisors approved to extend the current moratorium on wind energy conversion system construction permits for another 180 days. The current moratorium was set to end on September 24 and is now March 29, 2023.

The New York State Board on Electric Generation Siting and the Environment (Siting Board) today denied approval to North Side Energy Center, LLC (North Side) to build and operate a 180-megawatt solar farm in the towns of Brasher, Massena, and Norfolk in St. Lawrence County. The Siting Board’s decision follows a detailed review of the environmental impact the project would have had on the siting area.

The proposed Monarch solar project suffered a major setback Monday afternoon, as the Greensville County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to deny Urban Grid’s “2232 application” at its monthly board meeting. According to 3rd District Supervisor William Cain, the project “is not in substantial alignment with the county’s Comprehensive Plan.”

Winfield Township voters overwhelmingly shot down a recently approved solar ordinance, 457 “no” votes to 185 “yes” votes, or 71% to 29%...Tuesday’s referendum result means the township does not have a solar ordinance; nor has the township board enacted a solar moratorium while the issue remains in dispute. Some residents who voted Tuesday believed that shooting down the solar ordinance was the same thing as shooting down solar development in the township altogether, even though the solar ordinance regulates solar development in the township.

The Glen Town Board affirmed their support for measures in a proposed local law tightening regulations over utility-scale solar projects and made only minor changes to the draft law during a special meeting on Thursday.

In the spring of 2021, when some people were bringing up concerns with the projects, the Worth County Board of Supervisors began discussing a wind farm moratorium to give the Zoning Commission and the supervisors time to work on a ordinance regulating wind projects, and countywide zoning in general. A moratorium was approved by the Worth County supervisors in April 2021. In May 2022, Invenergy affiliate Worthwhile Wind LLC filed suit in Worth County District Court, saying it had spent “three years and millions of dollars on a wind energy project,” and asking the court to stop Worth County from “from arbitrarily, improperly and unfairly changing the rules in the middle of the project,” and of passing an ordinance that was aimed specifically at stopping the project. Later that month, the Worth County supervisors approved a countywide zoning ordinance and in June 2022 they approved a specific wind power ordinance and canceled the moratorium. The noise limits are 35 dBa at night for adjacent properties.

Residents of Greene voted overwhelmingly against a proposal to lease 80 acres of public land to Greene Apple Solar Power as part of a 600-acre, 120-MW solar farm. Opponents explained that they wanted the town to develop the 80 acres into recreational fields instead. The developer plans to move forward with the parts of the project that will be sited on private land.

The Goodland Township Planning Commission in a special meeting today voted 5-1 to deny a special land-use permit sought by Orion Renewable Energy to develop a solar energy facility in the township — ending prospects by the Oakland, Calif.-based company to lease more than 1,600 acres for its proposed project. Orion sought to build an estimated $100 million, 100-megawatt solar field project...Foltz, who made the motion to deny the permit, stated, “It’s just too big. I don’t think it belongs in that location.” Bissett concurred, but lamented how difficult the decision to deny the permit and project was because it pitted farmers and landowners who welcomed the income long-term leases would provide, against others who thought it would destroy their view from their homes or to passersby on area roads that bordered the proposed project.

The Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency voted Tuesday for a six-month moratorium on new applications for solar projects. The Lee County Board extended its moratorium on solar, wind and battery storage projects for another three months while a review to regulate such developments continues.

Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning commissioners voted down a plan for a solar farm in west Bibb County at their Monday meeting. Cubico Sustainable Investments wanted to build a 780-acre solar field on Hartley Bridge Road, but neighbors blocked it in April. Then, the zoning board voted to give Cubico some more time to work with neighbors. A month later, those neighbors say they haven't heard anything. So, they came to Monday's meeting prepared to speak with John Golitz, who represented Cubico. In a packed room at Terminal Station, dozens of neighbors spoke again telling commissioners it was not a good fit for their neighborhood. Shelley Wade’s lived on Marcar Road for 34 years and started a petition against the plan. Over 80 of her neighbors signed it, worried about declining property values, safety and noise from construction. "First thing we thought about was our property values, and so we decided that we would get a petition up, and we would go door-to-door,” said Wade. “We could find no one that wanted a solar farm connected to their property."