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Legislature passes bill giving counties more input on green energy projects 

Credit:  Ohio wind and solar bill headed to Gov. Mike DeWine | Jessie Balmert, Mark Williams and Daniel Carson | Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum | Jun. 30, 2021 | www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com ~~

COLUMBUS – As green energy developers look to move into Crawford County, the state legislature passed a bill to give local officials more input on wind and solar projects.

Senate Bill 52 would allow local elected officials to reject specific solar or wind projects in their communities, ban all such projects or restrict them from certain areas. Under current law, the five-member Ohio Power Siting Board in Columbus oversees which solar farms and wind turbines are approved.

“We in rural America should have a say in what happens in our state as well,” said state Sen. Bill Reineke, R-Tiffin, who sponsored the bill.

The proposed legislation passed the Ohio House 52-43 early Tuesday and a 20-12 concurrence vote sent the bill to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.

Currently, Apex Clean Energy is developing plans for the Honey Creek Wind Farm, a 360-megawatt plant that would spread across northern Crawford and southern Seneca counties. The actual height, number and location of wind turbines has not been determined, but a company official has said it’s anticipated the project will use about 75 turbines, each 600 to 650 feet tall (measured to the tip of the blade).

A proposed solar energy farm planned by National Grid Renewables in Cranberry Township, Sycamore Creek Solar, would span about 1,000 acres and be capable of generating 117 megawatts of energy, according to public records from the Ohio Power Siting Board.

Following the bill’s passage, Reineke joined Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, and state Reps. Craig Riedel, R-Defiance, and Dick Stein, R-Norwalk, in issuing a statement that described the legislative process as a “crusade” for constituents and their property rights.

“At this time, this issue is so consequential, particularly to northwest Ohio. As state legislators in northwest Ohio, we represent the counties with the most wind development in the state and understand that this bill is extremely important to those who live it every day,” the legislators wrote.

Move meant to promote partnership, not stifle development

The legislators wrote that, instead of stifling wind and solar development in Ohio, SB 52 will promote partnership and collaboration between project developers and the local community, ensuring that these projects are sited in areas that will support and cherish them.

Chris Aichholz, a Seneca Anti-Wind Union member, released a statement on behalf of the group lauding the bill’s passage.

The group expressed confidence DeWine, based on his previous comments, would sign the bill.

“Now the people of Ohio can rest easy in the knowledge that a wind or solar developer can no longer join forces with state agencies to force industrial scale projects into their county without the full knowledge and consent of the county government,” part of the group’s statement read.

Proponents of wind and solar energy say the changes are unnecessary roadblocks that single out renewable energy for burdensome regulations.

The Power Siting Board recently rejected that controversial Seneca County wind project, which some are viewing as an endorsement of the current process. But those who want changes say it took too much time and money to stop a project that could have been handled better at the local level.

What would the bill do?

Under the proposed changes, wind and solar businesses would need to hold a public meeting at least 90 days before applying to the Ohio Power Siting Board for permission to build. Company officials would need to detail the size of the project and a map of how far it would extend.

County commissioners could reject a specific project or ban all wind and solar projects in the county.

Alternatively, county commissioners could set aside specific areas where wind and solar businesses could not build their turbines, solar panels and other facilities. If residents disagree with what is excluded, they could file a referendum to challenge it at the ballot box.

Rep. Bill Seitz, R-Green Township, attempted to add a way for trustees to either add or remove themselves from a county area excluding wind and solar projects, but that language didn’t make it into the bill.

The bill would add two temporary members to the Ohio Power Siting Board considering each project: a county commissioner and a township trustee representing the area.

Some wind and many solar projects that are pending now wouldn’t need to face a county commissioner’s vote. They would be grandfathered in.
What’s the best way to tackle wind and solar?

Although only a handful of solar projects are in operation in Ohio, about three dozen projects are in some stage of development. Amazon alone has 14 projects in Ohio.

Development of wind farms has become more difficult since legislators put restrictions on their location in 2014. Still, the state approved a project for Lake Erie last year called Icebreaker and a project for northern Ohio on June 24 called Emerson Creek.

Ohio’s existing wind farms are concentrated in Northwest Ohio in Van Wert and Paulding counties. But residents in Huron, Erie, Sandusky and Seneca counties worry about projects proposed there. Residents from that area were the first to show up at the Statehouse, asking legislators to give them more local control over the projects.

Seitz said Ohio’s suburban residents want wind turbines in their state but not in their backyards.

“They think it’s just fine to put these monstrosities all over rural Ohio, to ruin the landscape in rural Ohio, to create 600-foot-tall structures with moving parts where the blades break and the fires start and the birds and bats are chopped to smithereens,” Seitz said.

But Rep. Kristin Boggs, D-Columbus, argued that some of those rural landowners want these projects on their farms. By excluding wind and solar projects, Ohio lawmakers take away those farmers’ property rights.

“To trump these rights of the actual landowner, I think you’re getting into very dangerous territory,” Boggs said.

Solar and wind operations could also bring billions of dollars in investments and hundreds of construction jobs. A greener Ohio also is a selling point for businesses looking to locate in the state, economic development officials say.

“It’s part of the conversation nearly every time,” said Kenny McDonald, the chief economic officer of One Columbus, an 11-county economic development group.

For example, 15 companies looking at investing $14 billion in central Ohio and creating 20,000 jobs say they either require or prefer renewable energy as their power source, McDonald said in March.

If Ohio imposes more strict rules on wind and solar projects, those businesses might go elsewhere.

Sen. Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland, says her problem with the proposed law comes down to fairness: the bill treats renewables differently than oil or coal operations in the state.

“The Legislature should not be in the business of picking winners and losers in the energy sector in the state of Ohio,” she said.

Another hurdle

Opponents of the bill also argue the Ohio Power Siting Board’s process of approving projects is rigorous enough and includes input from local residents. The board recently rejected the Seneca County wind project, after all.

“To get approval, you basically know it’s gone through every step it needs, that the project is going to be OK for the community,” said David Kell, executive director of the Madison County Chamber of Commerce and the Madison County Community Improvement Corp.

Adding more steps to the approval process adds uncertainty – something all businesses loathe. But Reineke doesn’t see extra steps as a hurdle but rather a necessary step for projects to succeed.

“Local support is your key to success,” he said on the Senate floor. “This bill does not prevent these developments from taking place. It simply creates a framework to ensure that community support for a project has a real and meaningful impact within the siting process.”

Telegraph-Forum reporter Gere Goble contributed to this story.

Source:  Ohio wind and solar bill headed to Gov. Mike DeWine | Jessie Balmert, Mark Williams and Daniel Carson | Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum | Jun. 30, 2021 | www.bucyrustelegraphforum.com

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

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