Legislation opposed by the Somerset County Commissioners and the local General Assembly delegation that was signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore is now the target of a referendum.

Senator Mary Beth Carozza said she has joined the Farmer’s Alliance for Rural Maryland (FARM) to call for a direct vote by the electorate to overturn Senate Bill 931/House Bill 1036, legislation known as the Renewable Energy Certainty Act.

“SB 931/HB 1036 eliminates the ability of local counties to enforce land use ordinances tied to locally developed Comprehensive Plans when it comes to solar energy facilities and battery storage systems,” Sen. Carozza said.

“It overrides protections for Priority Preservation Areas — lands long designated to safeguard Maryland’s most productive farmland — and imposes a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach to land use that disregards local needs and decision-making. This is especially harmful to our farming community on the Eastern Shore.”

Senate Bill 931 places a 5% cap on solar development in each county’s Priority Protection area, after which zoning authority would revert from the Public Service Commission back to the county. The Maryland Energy Administration has stated that 18,000 acres statewide would be needed to meet the state’s renewable energy goals.

The 5% cap in Senate Bill 931 would allow for 54,000 acres of solar siting on Maryland’s Eastern Shore alone, without any local input, said the senator who represents Worcester, Somerset and much of Wicomico County.

“This bill will harm our farmers, our rural communities, and the ability of our county governments to act in the best interest of our local communities regarding the regulation of renewable energy.”

Somerset County limited the range of solar energy facilities to 1,800 acres of which approximately 1,300 acres are already utilized with more in the planning phase.

As Commissioner President Charles Laird wrote, this legislation will “not only place an undue burden and unfair hardship on Somerset County as a rural county, but also defeat all of the work done by our county to regulate and control renewable energy as we see best for our county.”

Information and updates on the referendum are available on the Farmer’s Alliance for Rural Maryland website www.farmersallianceruralmaryland.org and on the Farmers Alliance for Rural Maryland (F.A.R.M.) Facebook page.

Petitions are being accepted locally at Wimberly Farms at 10605 Old Princess Anne Road and Somerset Automotive, 12471 Somerset Avenue, both Princess Anne; Hoober Equipment, 7261 Hayward Road, Pocomoke; and TNT Automotive, 27571 Holland Crossing Road, Marion; through May 31. That’s when one-third of the required number of signatures (20,053) is required to be filed with the Secretary of State.

The deadline for them to be counted and verified is June 20, with certification the following day. The balance of the required signatures (40,104) must be turned in by June 30 with those signatures counted and verified by July 22 with the certification deadline the next day.