Sugar Maple Solar Public Comment Hearing

A public comment hearing pursuant to 16 NYCRR part 1100 to hear and receive unsworn comments from the public will be held at the Carthage Recreation Building, 2 Park Drive, Carthage, NY 13619 on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. 

All persons, organizations, corporations, or government agencies who may be affected by the facility are invited to attend the hearing and comment on the application and the draft permit conditions. Lengthy comments will not be accepted and instead should be submitted in writing. Equal weight will be given to both oral and written comments. To ensure that all interested persons have an opportunity to speak, the Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) may limit the time available for oral comments to three (3) minutes per person. The public comment hearing will be transcribed for inclusion in the administrative record. 

The hearing location is reasonably accessible to persons with a mobility impairment. Persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations should call the Department of Public Service’s Human Resource Management Office at 518-473-9463 as soon as possible. TDD users may request a sign language interpreter by placing a call through the New York Relay Service at 711. Individuals with difficulty understanding or reading English are encouraged to call the Department at 800-342-3377 for free language assistance services. In the event that the in-person public comment hearing needs to be canceled, rescheduled, postponed, or conducted virtually, notification of any change will be available at the ORES website at https://dps.ny.gov/ores.

Read the Notice

Matter 23-03027 - Application of SUGAR MAPLE SOLAR, LLC for a Major Renewable Energy Facility Siting Permit Pursuant to Article VIII of the New York State Public Service Law to Develop, Design, Construct, Operate, Maintain, and Decommission an 125-Megawatt (MW) Solar Energy Facility, Including a 20-Megawatt (MW) Battery Energy Storage Facility, Located in the Town of WILNA, JEFFERSON COUNTY, and the Town of CROGHAN, LEWIS COUNTY.

Facility Description: 

Applicant applied to the Office of Renewable Energy Siting and Electric Transmission (Office or ORES) for a permit pursuant to Public Service Law article VIII to construct and operate a 125-megawatt (MW) solar energy facility known as the Sugar Maple Solar Project located in the Town of Wilna, Jefferson County, and the Town of Croghan, Lewis County. The facility would include photovoltaic solar arrays, inverters, electric collection lines, collection substation, point of interconnection (POI) switchyard, and a 20 MW battery energy storage system (BESS). Applicant filed the application with the Office on February 6, 2025. A notice of complete application was issued on October 3, 2025 (see https://dps.ny.gov/ores-permit-applications, click on Project Permit Application Number 23-03027). ORES staff published draft permit conditions on December 2, 2025. The draft permit conditions may be accessed at https://dps.ny.gov/ores-permit-applications, click on Project Permit Application Number 23-03027. 

ORES Staff Position: 

On issuing the draft permit conditions, ORES staff takes the position that the proposed facility, together with the uniform and site-specific standards and conditions contained in the draft permit, would comply with applicable laws and regulations. ORES staff recommends that the Office elect not to apply, in whole or in part, any local law or ordinance that as applied to the facility is unreasonably burdensome in view of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act targets and the environmental benefits of the proposed facility.