A new day is dawning for solar power in Pennsylvania, but some local officials have yet to wake up to the fact, judging by the rejection of two recent proposals for solar farms in our region.

The Commonwealth has lagged behind other states in the development of solar and other renewables, ranking 50th in production over the past decade, the nonprofit PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center reported last year. While the solar industry grew 12-fold nationwide since 2013, Pennsylvania’s solar output merely tripled and solar still accounts for less than 1 percent of energy generated in the state.

But with the Shapiro administration’s commitment to shifting 30% of power production to renewables by 2030 - the current figure is 8% - solar is sure to become a bigger player in the energy sector in our region and statewide.

There are currently at least eight solar farms proposed for our region, four in Schuylkill County and two each in Luzerne and Lackawanna.

The Taylor and Scranton projects in Lackawanna County are tied up in legal disputes after development plans were rejected by the zoning boards in those municipalities.

A Lackawanna County judge recently overturned the Taylor Zoning Hearing Board’s denial of a request to construct a 17,000-panel solar farm in that borough, sending it back to the board for reconsideration. The judge ruled the board, in its written decision, failed to provide adequate reasons for its findings and conclusions.

There was some public opposition to the project from borough residents, but that is not unusual and should not be the deciding factor in such cases. Solar farms, after all, are the least intrusive and most passive of energy projects. They also offer a productive use for environmentally damaged sites, of which our region has many. The Taylor project, for example, was to be sited on the former borough dump, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency superfund site.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has recognized that local governments might need help dealing with new issues that will arise as solar and other renewables become a more prominent feature on our energy landscape. DEP, in conjunction with Penn State Extension, has developed a “Municipal Officials’ Guide to Grid-Scale Solar Development in Pennsylvania,” which outlines the environmental, economic and tax impacts of solar farms and offers proposed changes in municipal zoning laws that would establish firm parameters for such projects and avoid costly litigation. It should be required reading for municipal officials across the state.

Solar energy could be an environmentally benign driver of economic growth in Northeast Pennsylvania, a region that has experienced extensive damage from energy production in its history. Our municipal officials must be prepared to manage these projects in a responsible, reasonable way, learning from that past while looking to the future.

Scranton Times-Tribune