When I first learned about Fort Edward Solar, sited for one of the last grasslands of its kind throughout the entire Northeast, I began the process of filing my nonprofit, American Land Rescue Fund, as a party to the proceedings.
Though, predictably, the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) never granted my nonprofit party status, considering they don’t grant party status to towns and counties throughout the state as well, I was added to the Fort Edward Solar email chain.
I saw something play out over and over again in my inbox.
The Department of Public Service (DPS), which supposedly oversees ORES, would file in response to appeals, party status requests, etc. at nearly the same time as Young/Sommer, the multi-million-dollar law firm that has a near monopoly over ORES solar complexes. Even more coincidentally, the legal arguments from both the DPS and Young/Sommer were nearly identical, as if deliberation behind the scenes had gone on to coordinate a legal strategy.
It would be highly illegal for New York State to be accepting legal guidance and help from a private law firm. It would also be highly illegal for that law firm to be dictating how state regulations, laws, and legal precedents are set surrounding large-scale renewable energy development.
For legal purposes, all of this is speculation.
Young/Sommer, as we speak, represents well over 40 large-scale renewable projects in the ORES/Article VIII pipeline, and at least 18-20 permitted ORES solar projects.
Their ORES solar projects include:
Fort Edward Solar (Boralex)
Yellow Barn Solar
Rich Road Solar
York Run Solar
White Creek Solar
Flat Creek Solar
Fort Covington Solar
Two Rivers Solar
Sugar Maple Solar
Oxbow Hill Solar
Alfred Oaks Solar
Somerset Solar
Morris Ridge Solar
Horseshoe Solar
Bear Ridge Solar
South Ripley Solar
Hemlock Ridge Solar
Riverhead Solar 2
Mind you, this does not include wind complex facilities and battery energy storage facilities (BESS), which Young/Sommer also represent in the ORES process.
For one law firm to have that level of monopolistic representation in a system that is supposed to be overseen and regulated by the “state” should have everyone questioning the legality of what is going on here.
Dean Sommer becomes Zoning Board of Appeals chair for New Scotland, New York
While I faced off with Young/Sommer in real-time during the Fort Edward Solar oral arguments that went on this past winter, Young/Sommer has been busy embedding itself in government at the local level where early decisions on permits related to solar and BESS occur.
Last month, the Altamont Enterprise announced that Dean Sommer, managing partner at Young/Sommer, had been voted in as the new Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) chair in the Town of New Scotland.
I was born and raised in Altamont, New York and attended school at Voorheesville. New Scotland is my home.
Dean Sommer was not accidentally installed as the ZBA chair in July 2026. He was installed as the ZBA chair because the Town of New Scotland is reviewing two separate BESS proposals/developments.
The two proposals are as follows:
RIC / New Scotland ESS: 1543 Indian Fields Road, Feura Bush: 5 MW / 20 MWh, proposed on a 7-acre subdivision of the 137-acre New Scotland Beagle Club property. It would use five Tesla Megapack 2XL units.
New Leaf Energy, Wormer Road: Originally proposed as three 5-MW BESS systems at 37 and 128 Wormer Road, but it was subsequently reduced to two 5-MW / 20-MWh systems after National Grid identified interconnection constraints.
The New Leaf project needed a zoning variance processed through the ZBA.
At the same time, Young/Sommer has infiltrated the local newspaper that covers the BESS developments, the Altamont Enterprise. Jesse S. Sommer, who writes the recurring opinion column "So Swears the New Scot" for The Altamont Enterprise, is the son of Dean Sommer.
One family is managing the local news coverage, representing the renewable developers, and now voting on the very projects their law firm stands to profit off once the dust settles.
You won’t hear about this in our local news. You won’t hear about this on social media. Why? Young/Sommer has created a system where it, from the shadows, allegedly manipulates, influences, and lobbies state regulations, laws, customs, and news coverage.
As a multi-million-dollar law firm, sane people are afraid of bringing this information into the light.
To be a fair and honest reporter covering ORES, it is my duty to bring this information to you and the greater public.
Dean Sommer is incapable of impartially chairing a ZBA. This playbook will be copy-and-pasted into every town throughout New York State and beyond if we do not, right here and right now, call out this hypocrisy and corruption.
We are losing our country, our wildlife, our environment, our history, and our autonomy as a free and self-governing people. Law firms like Young/Sommer are critical players in the communistic destruction and takeover of private property rights, home rule, and democracy inside of the United States.
I am not afraid to say it. I encourage everyone reading this today to stand up for your towns wherever you may be. Take photos and videos, post them online, and write what’s on your heart. Share the corruption. This country can only be saved by the common man and woman doing exactly what you see me doing on here today.
It’s time to throw down the gauntlet.
FURTHER READING
Your wish is our command: New York's PSC grants Boralex's request to transfer 13,100 acres of solar leases without further review
“Regulatory capture is a government failure where a public regulatory agency prioritizes the commercial or special interests of an industry over public welfare. It is driven by heavy lobbying, the "revolving door" of personnel between agencies and private firms, and information asymmetry.”
Kathy's got some explaining to do: USDA, EPA, and John Rich send federal letter to NY over solar "farms"
Typically when there’s a mad dash for mountains of money, whether it be in the form of credits, subsidies, back-door deals, lobbyist contracts, or private arrangements with foreign countries, eventually, someone is going to get sloppy.
My day with the Amish: new construction, solar woes, and how we can help each other
I think we all knew it back in 2023 when, by fate, I called up the number on a business card that was handed to me at a local prefab shed store for excavation services. I was greeted by a voice on the other line that came with an accent I couldn’t place. It sounded like Old English meets Dutch or German, and as I listened to this man on the phone, I rea…
Refer to the Attorney rules for Conflict of Interest, yes the ethics rules. That law firm and the managing partner have a clear conflict of interest.
It’s sad the leadership of our state, Hochul, the Lt. Governor, and leaders of the state assembly and senate would allow this to happen. Of course they’re part and parcel to it all. It’s all about the lobbyists cash flowing into their campaign coffers. Here in western NY they’ve shoehorned solar onto so much of our rural counties farmland that when I go for a drive, it’s ugly.