Public hearing results in adoption of the Clearwater County Renewable Energy Ordinance
Tue, 07/21/2020 - 9:55am
admin
By:
Karen Edelbach
The Clearwater County Board of Commissioners met on July 14 to reconvene the public hearing regarding review of the Renewable Energy Ordinance. No members of the public were in attendance, but all Commissioners were at the hearing.
Environmental Services Director, Dan Hecht gave an update of changes made to the Clearwater County Renewable Energy Ordinance presented during the public hearing opened on June 30th. It replaces the Wind Energy Conversion Systems Ordinance dated May 17, 2011. The new ordinance was adopted unanimously after a motion by Commissioner Mark Titera, seconded by Commissioner Dean Newland.
The purpose of the ordinance is to establish regulations governing the installation and operation of Commercial Wind Energy Conversion Systems, not otherwise subject to the State of Minnesota, and Commercial Solar Energy Systems within Clearwater County.
Changes in the language used in the new ordinance include the use of the words "must" and "shall", which designate it is mandatory; the word "may" which is permissive. The administrator is the Clearwater County Environmental Services Administrator. Conditional use permits are required for both Commercial Wind and Commercial Solar Systems through the Clearwater County Planning Commission and approved by the County Board. Permits are not required for non-commercial Wind or Solar Energy Systems.
Some specific items relevant to the use of "shall" instead of "may" in the Ordinance are:
"Each Commercial Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) shall have a Decommissioning Plan that is in compliance with Minnesota Rules. This plan shall outline the anticipated life of the project and the anticipated means and cost of removing WECS and accessory facilities at the end of their serviceable life or upon becoming a discontinued use..."
"Each Commercial Solar Energy System (SES) shall have a Decommissioning Plan that outlines the anticipated life of the project and the anticipated means and cost of removing and disposing all SES components at the end of their serviceable life or upon becoming a discontinued use. SES shall be considered a discontinued use after 12 consecutive months without energy production...
"The Board shall require the posting of a bond, letter of credit or establishment of an escrow account to ensure financing for proper decommissioning..."
"The permittee shall restore the area affected by renewable energy system activities to its pre-development state unless agreed otherwise by the landowner... (site cleanup, excavation; roads and parking areas will be removed completely, filled with suitable material and leveled)."
Cost estimates for decommissioning of wind or solar systems and resources that will be available to pay for the decommissioning and removal of systems and accessories with schedule for updating the costs will be required.
The Ordinance is effective with the passage of the motion dated July 14, 2020.
All Commissioners were present at the hearing: John Nelson, Neal Illies, Dean Newland, Mark Titera, and Mark Larson