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Resident proposes 1,500-panel community solar project to offset town electric bills
Summary
At the Feb. 12 Emery Town Council meeting a resident identified as Mr. Pope proposed a nonprofit, community solar installation of roughly 1,500 panels and discussed storage, fencing and a plan to direct proceeds to residents and town needs. Council and staff advised pursuing county and town permitting, a conditional-use process and public input.
Mr. Pope, a town resident, proposed installing about 1,500 solar panels on property near town and asked the council to consider permitting and community governance for a nonprofit "community solar" project that he said would help offset residents' electric bills and support local needs.
The project, as described by Pope during the Feb. 12 Emery Town Council meeting, would include rows of ground-mounted panels inside a security fence, a treated-wood visual screen around the array, and battery storage at an adjacent building to store excess generation for town use during outages. "1,500 solar panels will put out that much power normally," Pope said, adding he used "about 800 kilowatt hours last month" and expects the array to cover town needs in typical conditions. He said proceeds would be returned to town residents and would help pay fire bills; he described the endeavor as a nonprofit and said he had trucked shale onto the site as part of site preparation.
Town staff and council members told Pope the proposal should begin with the town conditional-use review and county zoning checks. A staff member described a county/town checklist and process that applicants must complete: "This questionnaire needs to be filled out and then come back to us again, and we'll discuss all these things," the staff member said. Council members raised concerns about visual impacts and glare: one council member suggested an impact study and public-input meeting and recommended Pope bring drawings to that meeting to address neighbors' questions.
Pope said he had contacted Rocky Mountain Power and had been told only that the utility would "come and hook it up"; town staff cautioned that utility responses alone do not substitute for formal permitting and advised checking county rules and the town's ordinance checklist for conditional uses. Staff said the town will provide Pope with the conditional-use checklist and county policy documents he requested and will meet again to continue the permitting discussion.
Next steps recorded at the meeting: Pope will review the town and county materials, prepare drawings and documentation for a conditional-use application, and return to the council for a public-notice agenda item and community input. No permit, vote or formal approval occurred at the Feb. 12 meeting.
