Odiorne Lane Solar, LLC, et al. v. Town of Eliot et al., 304 A.3d 253

Odiorne Lane Solar applied in 2021 for site-plan review and change-of-use to build a ~2 MW ground-mounted solar array on ~11 acres of a ~70-acre lot in Eliot’s Rural District.
The Town’s Zoning Ordinance permits “public utility facilities” in every district; the Ordinance defines “public utility” as an entity authorized to furnish electricity to the public but does not define “public utility facility.”
The Planning Board approved the project; abutters appealed and the Town Board of Appeals vacated that approval; Odiorne appealed to Superior Court, which reversed the Board of Appeals; abutter Jay Meyer appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
Under Maine law (Title 35-A), transmission and distribution (T&D) utilities are the entities authorized to furnish electricity to the public; generators (including distributed generation <5 MW) are not public utilities and are not authorized to ‘‘furnish’’ service.
Odiorne admitted it is not a public utility under Title 35-A and would interconnect its output to Central Maine Power (the T&D utility); the Court treated statute-based authorization as dispositive for the Ordinance’s phrase “authorized to furnish.”
The Court reviewed the ordinance interpretation de novo, held the solar array is not a “public utility facility” under the Ordinance, and directed the Superior Court to affirm the Board of Appeals and vacate the Planning Board approval.

Issue	Odiorne’s Argument	Meyer/Town’s Argument	Held
Whether the proposed large solar array is a “public utility facility” under the Town of Eliot Zoning Ordinance	The array is a permitted “public utility facility,” so the project is allowed in the Rural District	Generators are not public utilities; the array is not authorized to furnish electricity to the public and thus is not a permitted public utility facility	The array is not a “public utility facility” under the Ordinance; not permitted in the Rural District
Whether municipal definition can treat generators as public utilities independent of state law	Town law, not Title 35-A, should control local land-use classification	The Ordinance’s wording ties “public utility” to authorization to furnish service; authorization is a matter of state law (Title 35-A) and generators are not authorized	The Ordinance’s plain language requires state authorization to “furnish” service; Title 35-A shows generators are not public utilities, so municipal allowance does not apply

Jordan v. City of Ellsworth, 828 A.2d 768 (Me. 2003) (ordinance interpretation is question of law reviewed de novo; deference nuances for board characterizations)
Town of Minot v. Starbird, 39 A.3d 897 (Me. 2012) (construe ordinance by plain meaning and purpose/structure)
Competitive Energy Servs. LLC v. Pub. Utilities Comm’n, 818 A.2d 1039 (Me. 2003) (distinguishes generation from transmission/distribution utilities; generators are not public utilities)
Central Me. Power Co. v. Pub. Utilities Comm’n, 90 A.3d 451 (Me. 2014) (reinforces separation between T&D utilities and generation for regulatory purposes)
Mills v. Town of Eliot, 955 A.2d 258 (Me. 2008) (Town Board of Appeals acts in appellate capacity over Planning Board; municipal ordinance proof rules)