The Navy's plan to develop a renewable energy project at the former Naval Academy Dairy Farm in Gambrills isn't the only energy project in Maryland generating controversy.
While the Navy is just beginning the process of seeking renewable energy ideas, such as solar panels, for the 857-acre dairy farm in an effort to meet federally mandated carbon-free electricity goals, other energy projects across the state are prompting outcry.
The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a $424 million upgrade to the region's energy grid, would install a 500,000-volt transmission line through 70 miles of largely rural areas of Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties.
In Carroll County, six applications for solar energy projects on agricultural-zoned land are being considered, as well.
Though each project has different goals and timelines, similar criticisms are emerging. Concerns about changing rural landscapes, environmental risks and historic preservation are being echoed across each area, and in Anne Arundel County, what such a project would look like remains to be seen -- but the prospect is worrisome to many.
"You don't have much farmland in Anne Arundel County anymore, and you're basically pushing it out," said Ed McCabe, a leader with Anne Arundel County 4-H, following a community meeting on the Navy's plan. "I don't think it's appropriate to put solar over agricultural land, not just here, but anywhere."
More than 100 people attended the Navy's Aug. 6 meeting on the dairy farm project, several of whom were vocal in their dismay. Some felt their questions on the project's scope remained unanswered, while others were upset that the community was only now being asked about the project.
The meeting was the first widely attended public event on the project. Developer proposals are due Sept. 12. From there, the Navy will narrow down concepts in a process that's anticipated to conclude by January.
Though the Navy is required to complete an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act, that won't start until the end of next year at the earliest. The assessment will take at least a year to complete and then the Navy will determine if the project will move forward.
Some county residents are launching an effort to influence what the Navy does.
Odenton resident Tracy Mathews wants to preserve the dairy farm and is in the process of organizing a group called Save the Dairy Farm. Mathews said she wants to tell officials many in the community are against the land being used for a renewable energy project.
"We all want the same thing," she said in an interview Thursday. "We just want a voice." The group will have its first meeting Sept. 3 at the Odenton Library.
Though the Anne Arundel County effort is in its earliest stages, further north in the region, opposition to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is growing quickly. Stop MPRP, an advocacy group formed in July, has recruited hundreds of members who are concerned about the threat of eminent domain being invoked and the impact of the proposed transmission line.
"It's homes, it's farms, it's our way of life. Everyone's angry and afraid, and wants to take action to stop this," Joanne Frederick, a founding director of Stop MPRP, told the Carroll County Times. "They're lining up at our side and at the sides of other organizations, to do everything we can to stop it. What's clear is people are ready to raise their hand, and ready to help and ready to stop this from taking our property, our land and our farms."
Elected officials in Anne Arundel and Carroll counties are also weighing in.
Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said he is not in a position to support or oppose the Navy's pursuit of renewable energy at the dairy farm, although it wouldn't be his first choice.
Pittman, a Democrat, said it's not accurate to say the county supports the Navy's project -- rather, the county respects the Navy's decision and wants to get as much community benefit as possible out of whatever deal is made.
"I have this feeling that many [county residents] do, that this is almost sacred ground," he said in an interview last week. "There's not many parcels this large, not sure there are any parcels this large that are in heavily populated areas of the county, and it's beautiful land that I would love to protect in perpetuity, protect from development."
In Carroll County, opposition is firm to the proposed upgrade to the region's energy grid.
"We're here tonight, first of all, to say that we're with you," state Sen. Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, told attendees at a meeting in Westminster Aug. 22. "That can sound like a cliche, but it's really true. This particular project is a direct affront to and real assault on our way of life. That's how we see it."
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