Six Allen County officials have signed a letter addressed to the Ohio Power Siting Board, containing concerns regarding the potential Birch Solar Farm.
The Birch Solar Farm Project would occupy over 1,000 acres in Allen and Auglaize County. The project is anticipated to deliver nearly 600,000-megawatt hours of renewable energy annually into the local AEP grid.
The letter has been signed by Beth Seibert (Allen County Commissioner), Brian Winegardner (Allen County Commissioner), Cory Noonan (Allen County Commissioner, Rachel Gilroy (Allen County Auditor), Krista Bohn (Allen County Treasurer), and Brian Rhodes (Allen County Engineer.
The letter states that residents of Allen County have told commissioners that they reject 1,410 acres of solar panels, as being marketed to them as "continued agricultural on the basis that pollinators will be planted and sheep may be grazing."
The letter goes on to list eight concerns expressed to the county from the citizens as well as signees.
The first concern is of the energy from the project not available for local development, further stating that the energy has been sold to an out-of-state entity. The letter states the following: "It is important to point out that this $330 million investment is by a company, LightSource BP, that is NOT a local business and that the recipient of all the power generated is located in New Jersey."
Another concern listed is that local zoning regulations and the Shawnee Township Comprehensive Plan were deemed irrelevant to the process, which county leaders state in the letter as "unacceptable".
The letter addressed to the Ohio Siting Board also says that the timing of the 2021 property sexennial full valuation updates could "unfairly be used to the advantage of Birch Solar 1 project, as increases in property values would incorrectly have the appearance to have occurred after the project start."
Residents and the signees have also stated that the decommissioning plan is inadequate and needs to be bonded based on the number of modules and disposal.
A concern on water has also been listed. It is requested that an annual drinking water assessment of private wells needs to be provided to the 338 homes surrounding the project due to serious concerns about groundwater impacts. Another concern has come to light regarding existing drainage issues to be exacerbated with the addition of solar panels.
It was also pointed out in the letter that a road use and maintenance agreement is not defined in the OPSB application and does not exist between the applicant and Allen County, Ohio as of the date of the letter.
The final concern contained in the letter deals with Alternative Energy Tax Exemption. The letter states that there are concerns with how Lightsource BP "mislead the public at their November 18th, 2020 public information meeting regarding the status of a PILOT request."
The letter goes on further, "During that meeting, Ms. Montana stated that the 'PILOT is still being discussed and negotiated'. At the time of the above-mentioned meeting, the only information received by Allen County from Lightsource BP was that the company would be applying for a PILOT and a general table that showed the company's prepared breakdown of how $81 Million would be distributed. This misleading state is very concerning as the county had not been and to this day, have not negotiated a PILOT agreement with Lightsource BP."
The letter is now on its way to the Ohio Power Siting Board.
