Board delays solar ordinance vote, flags need for third‑party electrical review

The Winthrop Planning Board removed a proposed set of solar‑ordinance amendments from its March 4 substantive agenda and agreed to review the redlined text at a March 11 workshop in the larger meeting room to allow public attendance.

Board members distributed a most‑recent redline/strikeout draft and a clean ordinance version; staff said the draft distributed will be the working version for the March 11 discussion and that Greg Stewart will present the proposal. Members repeatedly raised a technical concern: town reviewers lack the electrical engineering expertise to verify complex interconnection, relay and synchronization details and therefore the board should require applicants to provide either detailed state‑required plan stages or to retain an independent third‑party engineer or electrician to certify designs. One participant summarized the reasoning as a need to “make sure the municipality is covered” when the design engineer represents the applicant.

Members also noted changing state incentives and market activity since many solar projects depend on subsidy regimes. A board member reported that Maine had curtailed some solar subsidies late last year and that some applicants said they were canceling leases; the board said those developments affected project pipelines but did not change the procedural approach to ordinance drafting.

No ordinance vote occurred. The solar amendments will be the primary topic of the March 11 workshop, where town councilors and invited technical reviewers, including Zach, were encouraged to attend.