Solar permitting — Harford County, Maryland
142 indexed meetings (9 energy-related), 6 known opposition groups.
Conservative suburban county north of Baltimore; APG proximity complicates some siting; agricultural portions. Permitting: County Board of Appeals/Board of Commissioners: Special Exception or Conditional Use Permi; 250-ft…
Key driver: Conservative suburban county north of Baltimore; APG proximity complicates some siting; agricultural portions have solar potential; active but carefully managed solar market
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
County Board of Appeals/Board of Commissioners: Special Exception or Conditional Use Permit in applicable zoning district.
Setbacks & buffers
Ch. 267 §267-85.2: ≥150 ft from any property line (for CSEGS in R/B/CI/LI/MO zones); ≥250 ft from any off-site dwelling unit; ≤15 ft panel height; glare-mitigating technology required on all panels; Type "E" buffer (§267-30) between CSEGS and public roads and off-site residences. GI district (large-scale): district setback standards apply. STATE OVERRIDE (HB1036/SB931, eff. July 1 2025): county setbacks for ≥1 MW solar capped at ≤100 ft from property lines and ≤150 ft from residential dwelling — Harford's ≥150 ft property line setback exceeds state max for ≥1 MW projects; PSC CPCN projects use PSC conditions.
Spacing requirements
None codified
Size restrictions
CSEGS in R/B/CI/LI/MO: ≤15 ft height. Max 3 CSEGS on one parcel. BESS (battery energy storage): no specific Harford County ordinance — state PSC oversight applies per HB1036/SB931. Large-scale solar (GI district): no specific MW cap; subject to standard GI district regulations. Board of Appeals process for Special Exception; applicant bears full burden of proof.
Penalties & bonding
Total penalty: +15 | Hostile ordinance flag: +15
State-level permits & approvals
Local county zoning permit: conditional use or special exception at county level; no uniform statewide solar permitting standard. PPRP (Power Plant Research Program, MD DNR): environmental review for generating facilities ≥70 MW; PSC CPCN required for projects ≥70 MW. Projects <70 MW: county-level permitting only. No statewide preemption of local solar ordinances. Net metering: systems up to 2 MW (residential up to 2× annual load). All MD in PJM territory. Maryland has the largest solar carve-out in the U.S. at 14.5% by 2028 (MD Code, PUC §7-703).
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State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
50% by 2030 (14.5% solar carve-out) | Clean Energy Jobs Act (2019) + CESA (2022) | Md. Code Ann. PUA §7-703
State incentive programs
Maryland Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS): 50% by 2030; solar carve-out 14.5% by 2028 — drives strong SREC demand. Maryland SREC market: PSC-administered; ~$50-80/SREC 2023-2024 for Tier 1 Maryland SRECs. Maryland Solar Access Program (Brighter Tomorrow Act 2024): $750/kW up to $7,500 for income-qualifying residential customers. Maryland Community Solar: community solar program active statewide. Maryland PSC: approval required for utility-owned solar; IPP projects via county/local process. Utility: BGE (Eversource) serves Baltimore metro; Pepco serves Montgomery/PG County; Delmarva Power serves Eastern Shore; SMECO serves Southern MD; Potomac Edison (FirstEnergy) serves western MD.
Grid & interconnection
PJM / BGE (Exelon) transmission zone
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Battery storage (BESS) P1 State-Default Permitting
No confirmed county BESS ordinance.
Local BESS ordinances & bylaws
County-level battery-storage status, safety requirements, and projects — each linked to a primary source.
Community opposition P1 6 tracked
Organized opposition signals on record for this county — petitions, community groups, and oppositional coverage — each linked to its primary source.
- Emergency legislation to ban data centers advances in Harford County Data center
- Harford County Council member plans to introduce data center moratorium Data center
- Harford County Council moves forward with emergency legislation to ban data centers, scraps 90-day pause Data center
- Harford County Council scraps data center moratorium to move Cassilly’s ban forward Data center
- Harford County residents say no to potential data center in their community Data center
- 'No-brainer': Harford County Council unanimously votes to ban data centers in all zoning districts Data center
SitePath maintains the most complete community-opposition dataset available, refreshed continuously from primary sources.
Subscriber intel Subscribers
Researched for this county and available with a subscription:
- 🔒Project track record
- 🔒Developer intelligence
- 🔒Community & board sentiment
- 🔒Governing board
Energy-related meetings & dockets P1
Halo color = sentiment of the relevant agenda excerpt: green positive, yellow neutral, red negative.
- 2026-05-27 OtherData Center
The Planning Commission voted to approve a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm and denied other proposals related to data centers.
- 2026-05-20 OtherBESS
The Harford County Planning Commission voted to approve a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm on the Anderson Property south of the Conastone BGE Substation.
- 2026-04-29 OtherData Center
The Data Center Alliance presented its proposal for a 150 MW solar farm in Harford County, but the Planning Commission voted to deny it.
- 2026-04-15 OtherBESS
The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm in Harford County
- 2026-03-18 OtherBESS
Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm
- 2022-09-26 OtherSolar
Delmarva Power proposed a 7,500 megawatt offshore wind project in Northern Harford County
- OtherData Center
The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
- OtherData Center
The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
- OtherData Center
The Planning Commission approved a special-use permit application for a 150 MW solar farm.
Full records for this county are part of a SitePath subscription.
State PSC dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Sentiment rollup P2
No sentiment rollup yet (requires meeting transcripts to be processed).
Local news P3
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
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