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County solar-ordinance review flags battery storage, state preemption and agrovoltaics
Summary
A county committee reported on a proposed solar ordinance that approves utility-scale acreage but omits battery-energy-storage rules and may be sidestepped by state permitting. Committee members raised safety and land-use concerns and noted agrovoltaics as a possible compromise for farmers.
Jenn Sharpe, a member of the county solar review committee, briefed the Trout Lake Community Council on July 10 committee findings and a draft ordinance now moving to the planning commission and the Board of County Commissioners. "Feel strongly that there is a place for solar," Jenn said, and described the committee as a nine-person panel that approved about 2,200 acres across 14 landowners for potential solar development, of which roughly 1,500 acres would be covered by panels.
Sharpe warned the draft ordinance does not address battery energy storage (BES) management and that companies could instead use state permitting pathways to build projects that bypass county rules. She and others noted the county’s energy overlay excludes Trout Lake proper and other scenic areas; the draft currently designates the western half of the county as a "no solar" zone but that mapping could be challenged by larger projects. Committee members also discussed agrovoltaics — higher-mounted panels that allow crops or grazing beneath them — and referenced Oregon State University research as a potential mitigation for farm impacts.
The committee emphasized fire-safety and site-management concerns: Jeff King and a local fire chief drafted recommended training and management practices for solar sites, and the group urged clearer standards for battery storage because of volatile components. The draft ordinance is scheduled for a planning commission hearing on Aug. 18 before going to the BoCC.
