ROTTERDAM — A moratorium on large-scale solar arrays in the town of Rotterdam first approved in late 2022 has officially been extended another six months.
Town Board members unanimously approved the six-month extension during their Wednesday meeting. The initial 12-month moratorium expired last month.
The extension comes as the town’s Energy Advisory Committee, appointed in March 2023, works to finish revising the town’s existing solar ordinance that hasn’t been updated since 2017.
A lot has changed in that time.
New York has been aggressively pursuing green energy after state lawmakers approved the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act in 2019, which calls for dramatically reducing carbon emissions in the coming decades. The law also calls for 70% of the state’s energy to be produced by renewable sources by 2030.
But some residents in town have been resistant to large-scale solar arrays that they say would disrupt ecosystems and dramatically alter the town for generations. A proposed 20-megawatt solar array in the area of Sandborn Road brought forward in 2022 was fiercely opposed by some, who argued the project would go against the town’s comprehensive plan that calls for preserving natural landscapes.
The proposal directly led to the initial moratorium being adopted.
Town lawmakers last September also approved 6-month moratoriums on battery energy storage facilities and wind energy systems. New legislation regulating the systems is expected to be unveiled in the coming months.