Location: Sykesville Fire Department

Local residents and other interested members of the public are invited to comment on a proposal by Spring Valley Solar 1, LLC to construct a 2.25 MW solar facility in Carroll County. The hearing will take place on Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. at Legacy Hall, Sykesville Fire Department, 6680 Sykesville Road in Sykesville, with Chief Public Utility Law Judge Chuck McLean presiding. The first public comment hearing in this case was held on September 25, 2024.

In April 2024, Spring Valley Solar applied to the Maryland Public Service Commission for what is known as a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN), which grants an applicant the authority to construct an energy-generating station or high-voltage transmission line in Maryland. According to the application, the solar facility, intended as part of Maryland’s community solar program, would be built on 14 acres of an 80-acre property located at 1500 Fannie Dorsey Road in Sykesville.

The hearing will include a presentation by the developer, followed by statements from the Power Plant Research Program of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, and the Commission’s Technical Staff, and then an opportunity for members of the public to comment on the proposed project. 

Barring any technical difficulties, the hearing will also include a virtual option. Members of the public who want to participate virtually should sign up in advance by sending an email to psc.pulj@gmail.com by noon on January 8, 2025. Participants will receive an email with a link to the virtual platform. Otherwise, the hearing may be viewed on the Public Utility Law Judge Division's YouTube channel (MD PSC PULJs): https://bit.ly/2X6wLiP

In addition to the hearing, written comments can be sent (by January 14, 2025) electronically through the Commission’s online portal at  https://www.psc.state.md.us/make-a-public-comment/, or by mail. Comments sent by mail should be addressed to: Jamie Bergin, Chief Clerk, Maryland Public Service Commission, William Donald Schaefer Tower, 6 St. Paul Street, 16th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202. So that they are noted in the proper case file, all comments should reference Case No. 9736.

 

The application is available for review at the Carroll County Department of Planning and Land Management, 225 North Center Street in Westminster; the Sykesville Town Hall, 7547 Main Street in Sykesville; and the Eldersburg Public Library, 6400 W. Hemlock Drive in Sykesville. 

###

.