(July 17, 2026) A proposed 4.95-megawatt solar project outside Pocomoke City has prompted the town’s mayor to call for a broader review of utility-scale solar development surrounding the community.
In a July 7 letter to the Worcester County Commissioners, Mayor Todd J. Nock warned that four existing or proposed facilities would create an “industrial energy corridor” around planned residential growth.
According to Nock, the projects would collectively generate nearly 14.5 megawatts across 229 acres in and around Pocomoke. One of the four projects is located on city-owned property.
Nock wrote that Pocomoke had “already demonstrated its willingness to contribute” to renewable energy, and urged county officials to carefully reconsider additional projects around Pocomoke until their cumulative effects have been studied.
“There comes a point,” he wrote, “where the concentration of these facilities begins to fundamentally change the landscape and character of the community.”
His letter coincided with the county commissioners’ July 7 review of an ongoing proposal for a solar farm at 1521 Old Virginia Road.
The commissioners voted 7-0 to oppose the project on a motion by Commissioner Caryn Abbott, who represents the Pocomoke area in District 1. Abbott cited Nock’s letter in making her motion.
County staff concluded that the utility-scale solar farm is permitted by right on the property, which is zoned industrial despite its current agricultural use.
The commissioners’ opposition, however, does not stop the project.
Worcester County does have a role: officials here still review the site plan, local permits, and whether the proposal meets county requirements. Its position also becomes part of the state review.
But because the project is larger than 2 megawatts, the Maryland Public Service Commission preempts the county, and the state ultimately decides whether it can be built.
Maryland has made expanding solar generation a matter of state policy. The state’s renewable energy law requires the solar share of electricity sales to rise from 8% this year to 14.5% by 2030.
The proposal calls for solar panels on 20 acres of a 54-acre parcel owned by the Fair family. Ray Fair, who has lived on the family farm his entire life, described the affected ground as clay-heavy and poor for farming.
Despite the proposal describing a 54-acre lot, Fair said he considers the tract to be 100 acres of contiguous family-owned land on Old Virginia Road.
“They act like we’re imposing this thing on the county, whereas that is our land – we have paid taxes on it,” Fair told OC Today-Dispatch. “It is zoned what it is by the county.”
Fair said the developer, CleanCapital LLC, agreed to a 25-year lease and would divide the solar installation into two sections, leaving open space through the property so the family could continue using the farm.
It also would preserve access to a duck blind he shared with his father, Fred, who had initiated the project but died last summer at age 92.
“It was a big decision for us to even decide to let them do it,” he said. “I’ve looked out at the deer in this field all my life, and hunted them all my life, and I’m going to lose a part of that.”
Fair also told OC Today-Dispatch that Commissioner Abbott visited the property unannounced July 5 and told his adult daughter that she was there to examine the site before voting on the proposal.
Abbott confirmed the visit. She made plans to meet Fair in person July 6 but canceled. She acknowledged that she did not speak with Fair or the developer before making her motion to oppose the project.
Abbott said she believes this solar project could interfere with planned residential and economic development on a parcel across the street, which she called part of Pocomoke City’s growth area. That land is currently zoned as industrial but could be rezoned, she said.
“We can’t place these solar farms on top of areas that we have for development,” she told OC Today-Dispatch. “It’s just not gonna work. Who’s going to buy a home when they’re surrounded by solar fields? Who’s going to build a home? I wouldn’t.”
“I think there’s a place for them,” she added, “but unfortunately, this isn’t it, and it’s unfair for Pocomoke to have to bear the brunt of this, to have so many in such a small area. I’m looking at the long-term interests of Pocomoke and Worcester County.”
Fair said the project is an appropriate use of the property and questioned why commissioners would oppose solar there while supporting future development across the road.
He believes county officials made up their minds to oppose the project without hearing from him or the developer.
“We’re pretty emotional in this thing,” he said. “It’s been pretty hurtful to my family.”
The project may still move forward despite opposition from Pocomoke City and Worcester County. CleanCapital LLC says on its website that the project remains in the permitting phase, with power generation anticipated in 2028.
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