Commissioners consider financial safeguards for solar farms developers

KENANSVILLE —  Last week, County Manager Bryan Miller and the Board of County Commissioners revisited the county’s solar farms ordinance during their regular meeting. They focused on important regulatory aspects and potential updates, particularly site planning and decommissioning.

Miller provided an overview of the county’s current solar ordinance, which mandates that any new solar facility or significant expansion requires a new site plan.

“New solar facilities or modifications increasing their existing footprint by more than 10% will require a new site plan approval by our planning board and will have to conform to our current regulations,” explained Miller.

The county manager explained that specific regulations govern site layout, including required setbacks from roads, residences, and other structures, as well as stipulations for access easements and buffers.

He also discussed additional regulatory requirements, such as safety provisions, underground power lines, battery storage permits, and the necessity of securing proper property agreements.

“There are some airport regulations that they have to comply with the Duplin County Airport Ordinance if they’re within the vicinity of the airport,” said Miller, adding that all solar farms must be fully fenced, have safety signage and undergo planning board review and building inspections.

“There are technical details that we require that must be approved along with the site plan,” said Miller.

“We do have a decommissioning plan. … For example, lease expiration — 12 months of inactivity indicates that the site needs to be decommissioned. This ensures the removal of the solar panels, structures, fencing, roads, and foundations. So basically, they’re looking to restore the land to the pre-developed condition.”

Miller addressed the potential financial and logistical burden on the county in cases where solar developers default or declare bankruptcy. While current regulations require land restoration, they lack a financial safeguard — specifically, a bond — that ensures the county isn’t left responsible for cleanup and land restoration if a solar developer goes bankrupt or abandons the project.

The county may ultimately exercise discretion over whether this restoration occurs — especially if funding becomes the county’s responsibility due to a developer’s failure to comply.

“If the developer just walks away and the county is on the hook for removing the panels and for decommissioning the site. We do have to go through a legal process to be able to sue, which can be hard if the company has gone out of business,” said Miller. He added that introducing a bond would provide crucial protection and help avoid legal and financial burdens on the county in such situations.

Some commissioners expressed a preference for requiring bonds in future developments as a protective measure. Any ordinance change would require public hearings and formal amendment procedures.

Miller shared that existing solar facilities cannot be retroactively required to comply with new bond requirements due to “permit choice” laws. Miller explained that these laws allow solar developers to adhere to the regulations in place when their permit was issued unless a facility expands its footprint beyond a certain threshold. This means that even if the county updates its solar ordinance, including potentially adding bond requirements, existing permit holders may not be obligated to comply with those changes.

Chairman Dexter Edwards thanked Miller for providing the update. No action was taken.

In other business:

Angela B. Mainor, Duplin County Board of Elections chair, announced that Duplin County will reduce its precincts from 19 to 17. The closure of Locklin and Rockfish precincts was approved by the state board about two weeks ago, Mainor explained. “It’s a waste of money for us to keep those. Locklin has a low turnout. Doesn’t have many people in that area,” said Maynor. “We’ve been thinking about doing it for a long time. So, we just decided to just bring it in front of the State Board, and they agreed to it.”

Mainor shared that every affected voter will receive two mailed notices to ensure a smooth transition.

The meeting adjourned until June 2 at 6 p.m. at the Ed Emory Auditorium.