Angie Brant
OAKLAND — The Mountain Maryland Energy Advisory Committee is soliciting ideas from the public.
“Great ideas fuel our future,” said committee chairman Mike Koch at Tuesday’s Garrett County Commission meeting. Koch also serves as the county’s executive director of Community Planning & Development. “Energy development is an important part of our economic future, but we need to chart our course thoughtfully and responsibly. Public participation diversifies ideas and deepens this dialogue.”
The committee was created in November to advise the Garrett and Allegany County commissioners on local and state policy, regulation, programs and legislation issues. Representing a diversity of perspectives, the 12 committee members are private citizens, and business owners and leaders in economic development (Garrett and Allegany County representatives), health, education and recreation.
Members are interested in all types of energy production, opportunity and projects in the area, with a key focus on identifying and mitigating any risks, said Jeff Simcoe, committee consultant.
The committee has explored a range of energy topics and generated numerous ideas on energy production. The 12 committee members will be broken down into four groups of three and each group will focus on either commercial biomass generation, solar or energy efficiency, according to Simcoe. While the three initiatives are slated for more focused review, the group seeks additional fresh ideas from the general public.
New ideas generated by the committee and local citizens will be explored during monthly committee meetings, all of which are open to the public. The committee will review viable solutions and forward recommendations by majority vote to the county commissioners. The ideas will be numbered so they can be tracked throughout the process and the committee will prioritize the ideas, according to Simcoe.
