CUMBERLAND — In addition to a solar project planned for Cash Valley Road, which many area residents have spoken against, three other proposals for the state’s Power Plant Research Program are under review.
According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the PPRP aims for the state to meet its electricity demands and protect environmental assets in a cost- efficient manner.
“The program is responsible for managing a consolidated review of all issues related to power generation and transmission in Maryland,” DNR’s website states.
“This role — unique in state government — provides a framework for the comprehensive review of all electric power issues with the goal of balancing need, cost and impact.”
Local proposals listed on the website Wednesday included a 5-megawatt spread on roughly 23 acres on Parrot Eyes Lane in an Oldtown agricultural zone. A public comment hearing will be held next summer. If approved, construction for the project is expected to last six to eight months.
The McMullen South West Highway Solar 1 project proposes a 5-megawatt array on about 38 acres in Cresaptown in a residential zone.
“The site primarily consists of undeveloped wooded land that has been used historically for hunting purposes,” the petition for the project states. A public comment hearing will be held next summer.
Allegany PV LLC proposes a 5-megawatt facility on roughly 62 acres on Collins Drive Southwest in Rawlings.
The petition for the plan states the parcel is zoned within agricultural, conservation, industrial and residential zones, “however the project’s limit of disturbance will be located exclusively in the (agricultural) zone.” Construction is anticipated to last five to seven months. A public comment hearing will be held the week of Jan. 11, 2027.
Rawlings resident Kelly Moran filed a petition to intervene in that project, which is slated to be built adjacent to her property.
Her objections included that a solar farm would significantly decrease the value of houses in the area, and construction vehicles would degrade a recently-improved road controlled by a homeowners’ association.
“To build this utility-scale ground array, they plan to clear-cut over 56-plus acres of mature, deeply rooted forest directly off a steep mountainside,” she recently told the Cumberland Times-News.
“Following the catastrophic 2025 flash floods that cost our county $33.7 million in damages, and the subsequent severe storms early this year, stripping a mountain slope of its natural canopy and root stabilization defies environmental logic,” Moran said.
A letter she sent to the Maryland Public Service Commission outlined her opposition to the project, including its proposed expansion. The applicant initially planned for the project footprint to be 40 acres, but recently requested that number be increased to 62.
“I urge the (state PSC) to prioritize public safety, watershed preservation, and local economic resilience over corporate utility expansion,” Moran wrote in the letter. “I request that the commission deny the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for this project, or, at a minimum, halt all proceedings until a modern, accurate hydrological study is completed. Our county cannot afford to survive another preventable flooding disaster.”
Learn more about all the local proposals on DNR’s Projects Under Review web page.