Commissioners adopt statewide siting standards for solar and battery projects; developers urged to strengthen decommissioning and fire-suppression plans

The Worcester County Commissioners voted May 20 to adopt siting standards for utility-scale solar and battery projects that were added to state law this session (Senate Bill 931). The change gives counties new review elements — including setbacks, multilayer landscape screening and strengthened bonding and inspection requirements — intended to preserve local siting control for projects larger than 2 megawatts.

Jen (presenter from the Department of Development Review and Permitting) told the board the state bill “is much more restrictive than what Worcester County has on the books right now” and that it “claws back a little bit from the Public Service Commission” by embedding siting standards the county can apply. She recommended the county treat projects over 2 megawatts as subject to the standards and to review projects of 1–2 megawatts via site-plan review.

Commissioners discussed enforcement and long-term protections several times. Commissioners asked whether bonding and vegetation maintenance requirements would last the life of projects; staff said new bonding rules create an initial five-year maintenance period with staged releases tied to plant survival, but that…