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Council directs staff to draft decommissioning-bond language for proposed solar projects
Summary
After questions about whether a stalled solar farm must post a decommissioning bond, council asked solicitor and staff to prepare or amend ordinances requiring bonds and decommissioning plans for large-scale solar projects.
Council members discussed risks from stalled or abandoned solar projects and asked staff and the solicitor to prepare ordinance language to require decommissioning bonds and plans for large-scale solar developments.
Council received an engineer’s explanation that municipalities often require a project or decommissioning bond in the land‑development approval process to secure road and site restoration if a developer fails to complete removal. Solicitor and planning staff said a building permit alone provides limited leverage; the borough has more latitude to require bonds as a condition of land‑development approval and as part of zoning or special-exception requirements.
Council asked staff to place draft ordinance language on next month’s agenda for review. Members discussed options on a spectrum from permissive (no special bond beyond standard performance bonds) to strict (project-level decommissioning bonds returned at end of project life) and signaled interest in an approach that would protect the borough if a developer goes bankrupt or abandons a site.
The solicitor advised that transformers and utility substations are typically owned and maintained by the utility, but any decommissioning requirement should explicitly address deconstruction, restoration and bonding requirements for panels and site infrastructure.
