Montezuma County residents submitted more than 200 signed petitions to the Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 8, urging an end to the six-month moratorium on utility-scale solar projects as officials weigh next steps.
The county is updating its land-use code to accommodate alternative energy sources, including photovoltaics. What steps officials will take next – a controversial topic among residents – remains unclear.
Back in April, Montezuma County commissioners approved a six-month pause on new applications for utility-scale solar power. Commissioner Jim Candelaria said the goal was “just to pause, to make sure we have better language in land-use code.”
About 20 residents attended a public meeting to support the moratorium. Supporters cited concerns about protecting public lands and evaluating long-term impacts of solar farms.
After the moratorium, the Planning and Zoning Committee rejected a proposed 960-acre solar farm, Canyonland Solar, west of Lewis-Arriola.
The moratorium, which passed unanimously, is set to expire Wednesday.
County Attorney Stephen Tarnowski said told commissioners during an Oct. 6 meeting that a public hearing was needed to choose a path: “Either adopt some kind of amendment to the code or do another moratorium, essentially, if we're not in a position to adopt the regulations.”
Tarnowski said he was working on proposed amendments for alternative energy with the Planning and Zoning Committee to provide to the commissioners.
Solar is just one energy source addressed in the amendments. The committee also is discussing land-use amendments for wind, geothermal and nuclear energy, according to its Oct. 9 meeting.
Tarnowski said amendments must include protections for private property and respect for agricultural land.
Ahead of the moratorium’s end, Montezuma County for Solar got to work. Volunteers showcased support for solar and tried to understand the opposition to the energy source.
The group collected more than 200 petition signatures from residents urging county officials not to extend the moratorium. Three volunteers said Oct. 8 that the signed petitions were on their way to county commissioners.
“The first step today is dropping off these 200-plus petition signatures, showing the county commissioners, ‘Hey, there’s many, many people in the county that are wanting this ban to be lifted,’” said Julie Hudak, a co-organizer with Montezuma County for Solar.
Volunteers also surveyed more than 300 people, assessing what they called “community sentiment.”
Hudak said many opponents cited concerns about preserving farm and ranch land.
She pointed to a recent Delta County initiative to integrate grazing land with solar panels, according to the Montrose Business Times, creating one of the Western Slope’s largest solar fields.
She also described a “not-in-my-backyard argument, not wanting somebody’s view of the mountains to be tainted by a solar field,” in addition to an emphasis on the freedom of public property.
David Paradise, another organizer, said the ban will eventually be lifted and residents should help decide how tax revenue from solar farms is used and how to protect the environment as new projects emerge.
“An education campaign is our next step,” he said.
Co-organizer Kate Bennett said Montezuma County needs to secure reliable sources of energy to power homes for the future.
“Its important to my neighbors,” Bennett said. “It’s important to our elderly folks who are on breathing machines. I need refrigeration for my medicine. We have to keep power.”
“The benefits of solar should rightfully go to the citizens of Montezuma County,” Bennett said. “We don't want all the benefits going up to whatever corporation owns the solar farm. We want tax revenue for the county. We want jobs for the county, lower energy costs for the county and we want dependable, reliable energy in the county.”
