ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - A solar project that has been in the works over the past two years has now been denied certification by the Ohio Power Siting Board.
The decision came down today during the Ohio Power Siting Board meeting, where they voted in favor of denying a certificate of environmental capability for Lightsource bp's Birch Solar Project. Residents in Allen and Auglaize County over the past two years have voiced their concern over the project, and a Shawnee Township trustee says that the people's voice was heard by the board.
"As hard as the people worked, because of location, just proximity to people, all the different things, I think the people are pleased with the siting board's answer. And I think you know it's one of those things were sometimes the people, the power of people is an important thing. You know they get involved with government and they work at it and I think, you know, good things can be accomplished," said Russ Holly, Shawnee Township Trustee.
On Friday, Shanelle Montana, Vice President of Development for Lightsource bp had this response: "Over the last two years the Birch Solar team has worked hard with the community to create a model solar project in Allen and Auglaize County. While in the Allen and Auglaize community, we heard from Shawnee parents who were advocating for better schools for their children, farmers who were nervous about the variability of commodity prices and nature, and trade workers who wanted jobs in their local community – not just job creation in Columbus. Residents of the Shawnee community and school leaders were relieved to learn about the $94 million in investment Birch Solar would have provided for their community. This investment would have reduced the need for tax increases and additional future levies. Landowners were excited that they would be able to keep their land in the family with the steady income from Birch Solar. Local electricians were excited about the hundreds of local jobs for local workers that Birch Solar would bring.
In conversations with local residents, greater setbacks were introduced from homes and roads and the project was screened by adding thousands of trees. Every detail was carefully considered: the use of farm type fencing instead of industry typical chain link, keeping the land in agricultural production through sheep grazing, recycling 100% of end-of-life solar panels. The Birch project went beyond any currently constructed solar project in the state and set a new standard for responsible solar.
Unfortunately, the OPSB board decision ignored the project support which is in testimony from the local Allen and Auglaize country residents, including support from local union leaders, and the fact that there were no intervening residential groups or individuals in opposition of the project in the OPSB hearings. The OPSB Board appears to have favored the opinion of local governmental bodies , many who did not engage in the hearing process or/and did not intervene in the project, over the needs and desires of the residents. Sadly, this political focus removes jobs, environmental benefits, infrastructure investment and economic development from Allen and Auglaize County.
Birch Solar will be exercising all options to move the project forward.”
4:48 PM UPDATE - Press Release from IBEW Local 32: Lima, Ohio – October 20, 2022 – Today, two years after the application was filed, the Ohio Power Siting Board issued its Opinion and Order denying the Birch Solar 1 project slated for development in Shawnee Township, south of Lima.
The details of this project were explained in thousands of pages of expert testimony and studies, all of which was scrutinized by the Board through a litigated case proceeding, which IBEW Local 32 participated in. Despite the overwhelmingly positive community benefits detailed throughout the voluminous case record, the Ohio Power Siting Board has ruled that the project will not serve the public interest, the sole criteria that the Board opines was unmet.
The Birch Solar 1 project has the potential to provide approximately 300 megawatts of clean electricity to Ohio’s energy grid; a project large enough to supply the amount of power required to energize 55,000 homes. The project represents significant new and sustainable revenue for local schools and governments and would provide decades of guaranteed farm income. More than this, LightsourceBP has agreed to a Project Labor Agreement that would employ hundreds of local union construction workers that IBEW Local 32 is prepared to supply.
IBEW recognizes the shifting energy economy toward cleaner sources of supply and has worked diligently to prepare our members for these opportunities so that our electrical workers can continue to meet the nation’s energy needs while creating good, family-sustaining careers in electrical construction.
The following statement can be attributed to Mike Ruppert, Business Manager and Journeyman Wireman at IBEW Local 32 in Lima, Ohio.
“These are local jobs for local workers that were denied today in this wrong-headed decision; jobs that provide a living wage, and family-sustaining benefits. Our members spend their money at the local grocery store, the local car dealership, the local hair salons and other local businesses. It’s hard for us to understand how the Siting Board can view these benefits as not being in the public interest. Birch Solar represents a pathway into the electrical trades where workers can finish their career with a pension that provides a respectable retirement, including healthcare. These construction jobs are important to me and my members and the community whose business they support. We feel strongly that the Ohio Power Siting Board got it wrong today, and we are considering all available next steps to correct this flawed outcome.”
7:46 PM UPDATE - Press Release from Allen Auglaize Coalition for Reasonable Energy: With deep regret we write today to inform the public that the Birch Solar 1 project application has been denied by the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB). It is the view of Allen Auglaize Coalition for Reasonable Energy (Coalition) that the Board has misinterpreted their “public interest” requirement and used it as a political tool to deny this project.
As Ohio State Senator Huffman has stated, “One of the things that we’ve decided as a state, creating and transmitting energy is important and it’s too important to keep individual interests from stopping that. We have to be able to turn on the lights. We have to be able to heat our homes.” We agree. But, though the OPSB was created to put the public interest over the individual interests of the “not-in-mybackyard” groups, they have failed to do so in this case.
Our Coalition continues to support the Birch Solar 1 project and specifically, the benefits of clean, renewable electricity to our community including: tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenue for our schools, our local community, our counties and our state; conservation of farmland and natural habitat; reduced pollution and emissions; diversification of local farmers’ income allowing them to maintain their family farms for future generations, and local jobs.
Shawnee School parents Kathleen Baril, a member of the Coalition, and Dr Marin Harbur, PhD Agronomist, remarked, “This is disappointing for parents in the Shawnee School District. The school is greatly in need of new buildings and the denial of Birch will deprive the district of more than 30 million dollars in new revenue. This will be difficult for taxpayers.”
Rae Neal, member of the Coalition, Nurse Practitioner, and member of Ohio Clinicians for Climate Action, observed, “The Birch Solar farm would be something we can do locally to address threats to our health, our climate, our planet, and our environment as a whole. With the loss of the project, we also lose the potential benefits of perennial, native species that would improve soil health, water filtration, and boost the biodiversity of surrounding residential and farm lands.”
Frank Caprilla, business owner near the Birch site and member of the Coalition, stated, “We cannot allow our government to control private businesses and decide who can and cannot exist, instead we should look to government to determine who has met the qualifications. Politicizing our energy production will certainly lead to higher costs for everyone, and governments 'selecting' what private businesses can operate is socialism not capitalism.”
Paul Neff, farmer, landowner, and member of the Coalition, expressed his disappointment, “The Birch project would have assured a steady stream of income from my family's land, allowing us to compensate for the variability of commodity prices and nature. My family has farmed this land since before Lincoln was president. With the steady income from Birch, we would have been able to keep the farm in our family for at least a couple more generations. Now what? We'll have to do something and some of those options are likely to be less agreeable to our neighbors than landscaped fields of solar panels.”
Michael Wildermuth, Manager of the Coalition, commented, “Our local elected officials are going to have a difficult time selling taxpayers here on any new taxes after they worked to deny local residents of as much as, by on their own estimates, 100 million dollars in new revenue generated by this project. This is a deeply disappointing outcome for local taxpayers and for those who would choose not to miss the opportunity locally to do something positive for our environment and for our grandchildren.”
For more information:
Michael Wildermuth, Manager Allen Auglaize Coalition for Reasonable Energy
Letter from the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in Support of Birch Solar 1
Letter from the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce in Support of Birch Solar 1
Letter from the Coalition to the OPSB Regarding Public Interest Determinations
