Solar group to draft ordinance proposal

On the same day Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that nearly 700,000 acres of federal land would be set aside as study areas for potential solar-energy projects, members of the Utah Solar Working Group met to discuss a solar ordinance it plans to bring to state lawmakers this fall.

As a result of a joint resolution passed by the Legislature, the group has been tasked with coming up with a law establishing uniform requirements would-be developers would have to follow.

The goal is to craft a set of rules that would apply to projects regardless of their geographic location, said Elise Brown with the Utah State Energy Program.

To that end, the working group has tapped a variety of groups that have an interest in an ordinance that would involve local entities, including the Utah League of Cities Towns and the Utah Association of Counties.

In addition to a solar ordinance, SJR1 sponsored by Sen. Pat Jones, D-Holladay, calls for model ordinances related to wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass energy.

— Amy Joi O'Donoghue