## Facts

- Perennial Solar, LLC proposed a utility-scale solar energy generating system (SEGS) on two contiguous farms (about 86 acres) in Washington County’s Agricultural–Rural zoning district near the rural village of Cearfoss.
- The facility was designed to produce 10 megawatts of electricity for sale into a wholesale electricity market.
- The county zoning ordinance allowed SEGS in the district by special exception and imposed design standards; the county zoning board granted a special exception and variance after a public hearing.
- Neighboring landowners sought judicial review in circuit court; the County intervened.
- While judicial review was pending, Perennial sought a determination that state public-utilities law required exclusive state siting approval because the project required a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) from the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC).
- The circuit court held the county zoning ordinance preempted as applied to this project, dismissed the judicial-review petition, and directed the zoning board to vacate its approval; the intermediate appellate court affirmed.

## Issues

1. Whether Maryland public-utilities law, including Md. Code, Pub. Util. § 7-207, impliedly preempts local zoning authority over SEGS that require a PSC-issued CPCN.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Maryland affirmed.
- PU § 7-207 impliedly preempts local zoning authority over the siting and construction of generating stations, including SEGS, that require a CPCN.
- The PSC has exclusive jurisdiction to approve such facilities; local governments participate through recommendations and evidence in the CPCN proceeding.
- The holding was limited to SEGS within the CPCN regime; it did not decide local authority over solar projects not requiring a CPCN.

## Legal Principles

- Implied preemption applies when the Legislature manifests an intent to occupy a regulatory field exclusively, shown by a comprehensive statutory scheme that leaves no room for local law on the same subject.
- PU § 7-207 prohibits construction of a generating station without a CPCN and prescribes a detailed statewide approval process that requires the PSC to consider specified factors, including environmental impacts, electricity reliability, and local government recommendations.
- When state law assigns local governments a defined consultative role within a state licensing process, local land-use regulation that would function as independent approval, denial, or inconsistent conditions is preempted.
- Allowing counties to control CPCN-governed siting through zoning would conflict with the statewide, centralized decisionmaking structure established for major generating facilities.

## Conclusion

Maryland’s CPCN statutory framework occupies the field of siting approval for generating stations that require a CPCN, so county zoning ordinances are preempted as applied to utility-scale solar projects within that regime, with local input confined to the advisory role specified by statute.


Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs of Wash. Cnty. v. Perennial Solar, LLC, 464 Md. 610, 212 A.3d 868 (Md. 2019)