https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/18/the-solar-land-rush-a-farmers-perspective-with-judy-gifford/ Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown Thu, 24 Apr 2025 08:11:11 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/18/the-solar-land-rush-a-farmers-perspective-with-judy-gifford/#comment-764647 Thu, 24 Apr 2025 08:11:11 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183056#comment-764647 One mitigating factor that defines where large-scale solar is situated is the location of heavy utility electric wires. Commercial solar companies won’t dump a large project in just any field; they require proximity to a grid connection. Also, once the region’s grid capacity is full, more large-scale projects won’t be accepted by the utility companies. Agriculture will always be the number one industry on the Eastern Shore, even when it’s dominated by corporate interests.

]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/18/the-solar-land-rush-a-farmers-perspective-with-judy-gifford/#comment-762286 Tue, 18 Mar 2025 21:16:10 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183056#comment-762286 The eastern Shore is no place for solar.
The landscape is broken up by rivers making the fields too small for efficient installation of panels. Because of the nature of the landscape farms are smaller than many in the West and Midwest.
The Eastern Shore is an area of rich
farmlands, productive waterways and historical significance. Solar doesn’t fit here.
I am not a nimby. Farmland l own in Indiana is being developed into a solar farm. There, the landscape stretches on for miles with few interruptions. The land was drained over a century ago; it had been a richly productive wetland. The resulting farmland was only marginally productive, requiring expensive inputs and infrastructure.
If l were farming in Maryland instead of Indiana. I would fight solar with everything I am worth!
Marsha Fritz

]]>