BREWER, Maine — The city of Brewer is putting the growth of commercial solar within the community on hold for the time being.
The city council voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of a six-month moratorium on large-scale solar projects. The ordinance falls short of stopping any current construction and won’t apply to any residential solar projects.
Jerry Goss voted in favor of the temporary ban, in part over concerns about the fate of solar farms in Brewer when they are eventually taken offline.
"What’s going to happen when they’re decommissioned? Are they just going to walk away and leave it? What are they going to do?” Goss said on Wednesday. He added, "[The moratorium] gives us a chance to take a step back and an analyze where we are, where we’re going, and take a look at that whole issue of decommissioning.”
Some industry leaders, however, say the decommissioning process likely won’t happen for decades. As Navneet Jain, owner of DIY Solar ME puts it, “Yes, it is partially right that we haven’t figured out what’s going to happen with the panels, most of them end up in the dump-- but they do last 30 years, 20 or thirty years.” Jain said.
Differences aside, both Jain and Councilor Goss believe commercial solar is only tenable in the community if the power being generated by the farms stays local. Goss says solar companies have made few assurances that the voltage created on their solar farms won’t leave Maine.
“Right now we’re not sure that’s going to happen. There’s no guarantee," Goss said.