It is a story that the Select Board is all too familiar with.

Solar energy facilities are popping up all over Wareham, and more still are being proposed for the town. 

There are still questions about how much it would cost to decommission tens of thousands of proposed solar panels, and how the panels would be disposed of after outliving their usefulness.

The high-energy batteries used in the panels present a fire risk and require a special set of precautions to prevent disaster.

The recent Inflation Reduction Act provides attractive incentives to solar developers, especially if they build projects in low-income communities like Wareham.

“There is tremendous pressure from the federal and state government to increase alternative energies,” said Select Board member Alan Slavin. “They’re putting in a lot of incentives that are basically taking away our local rights.” 

To promote the town’s interests when interacting with solar developers, the Select Board has unanimously endorsed the idea of an Alternative Energy Committee, in which seven to nine experts from various walks of life would refine the town’s energy bylaws.

Planning Board member Sherry Quirk, who has over 40 years of energy law experience, presented her idea for the Committee at the Select Board meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21. 

Quirk described the Alternative Energy Committee as “a multidisciplinary team representing diverse points of view.”

“The question is, what should we do to protect Wareham from [decommissioning] costs?” Quirk asked the Select Board. “You know better than anyone else that the Wareham budget does not need additional pressure.”

Quirk said that she would not require any money or staff from the Select Board to form the Committee, but only “confirmation” that the Board supports the idea.

The Committee would not be formed until after this spring’s Town Meeting. Until then, Quirk plans to “identify some talent and recruit some folks who would be interested.”

Such “talent” could come from local residents, environmental groups, the Fire and Police Departments, land developers, the Conservation Commission or the Planning Board. 

Select Board Clerk Tricia Wurts said it was “critically important” that the Committee have multiple types of expertise. 

Quirk wants to have the Committee formed by this fall’s Town Meeting.

Select Board Chair Judith Whiteside supported forming the Committee, but balked at the quick deadline.

“Ms. Quirk, do you have wings?” She joked.

“I think a little pressure is good,” Quirk replied.