Representatives with the Samsung Richwood solar project visited Leesburg Township Monday to answer questions about the proposed 250-megawatt project. Officials offered a map that shows the project area running from the intersection of Route 4 and Langstaff Road at right to the intersections of Snyder and Claibourne roads in the upper left section.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Michael Williamson)
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Residents once again gathered at the Leesburg Township Fire Department to get more information about the proposed solar project south of Richwood.
After a public meeting last week, Union County residents gathered again at the regular Leesburg Township meeting Monday evening to get their questions answered and hear updates from the solar project reps in person.
Samsung’s proposed Richwood Solar, the company’s first project in Ohio, is a 250-megawatt project running east to west between Route 4 and Ford-Reed Road, spanning between 1,500 to 2,000 acres south of Bethlehem-Claibourne Road.
While residents had concerns about a variety of issues ranging from setbacks to drainage to the amount of land occupied, Hanjoo Jun, regional director with Samsung, said the plan isn’t yet finished.
“Samsung is finalizing our layout, how we’re going to build and how we’re going to plan it,” he said. “We expect to get a final report in 2024.”
The goal, he added, is to submit the project plan for permitting at the end of the year. Samsung has to first get a number of agreements and approvals from both the Ohio Power Siting Board and the PJM, the Pennsylvania-based grid operator overseeing interconnectivity.
After submitting, the review process can then take up to a full year to complete.
Jun and Mark Bonifas, a consultant with Verdantas, the engineering consulting company working with Samsung, covered questions from residents, answering some and referring others to two future meetings in November when more information will be available.
Bonifas addressed questions about setbacks for the project as residents questioned how much space will exist between the project edge and property lines.
He said there had been no requirements but the OPSB approved new rules that haven’t yet gone into effect but when they do, he said the company would follow them.
“The setbacks that we’re following are 150 feet from the edge of a public road, 300 feet from a residence – technically a non-participating residence, but we’re using that for all residences,” Bonifas said. “Then 50 feet from a property line to a non-participating parcel.”
He said planners look at a map and measure out 300 feet from the edge of a house in all directions and design the layout so that there are no panels within that area.
Residents pushed back, expressing concern that people with larger properties might have solar fencing right at the edge of their properties. Bonifas said that wouldn’t be the case.
“Panels will be 50 feet from the property line. The fence is 15 feet from the panels, so 35 feet from your fence, would be the fence for the solar facility,” he said.
Other concerns involved fencing, drainage, the quality of materials, sourcing materials, health and safety and how the project will be taxed.
“We are going to procure panels on an available basis. Surely, we prefer to procure the domestic modules, so many module companies are adding their capacity in the United States so we try to procure the domestic module first. We will use what is available at that time,” Jun said, noting construction likely wouldn’t begin until 2025 and other projects include materials from Georgia. “We will share what panels we will use. Surely, we are not going to use Chinese modules.”
Bonifas said they have to follow regulations by the OPSB and that many of the decisions won’t come until after approval. He added things like taxes haven’t been decided and that Samsung is open to both traditional taxing of assets and a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT.
Though the meeting featured mostly residents speaking in opposition, there were participating residents in the project present.
“Taxes were a big thing. The 1,600 acres that it covers right now generates $51,000 in taxes a year. With 250 megawatts, they’re going to be paying $9,000 a megawatt, so that generates $2,250,000 a year to the county taxes. So it’s a big difference,” said Chuck Warner, a resident with land in the project area. “My thing is, that’s going to pay a lot of taxes for years to come and maybe the residents won’t have to pay as many.”
Warner said since the land will also remain agricultural it will allow it to return to farming when the lease is up, which he said stands in contrast to the more common, residential development going on in the county. He added, on a personal note, his wife is in a nursing home and that costs $8,000 a month. Money from leasing land will help take care of those bills.
That reasoning was similar for Ashley Beery, who also said putting a pause on land use helps preserve it, but also personally, it helps her and her family.
“I have numerous health issues,” she said. “I have to pay everything and if I need help, I have to hire a nurse. What am I supposed to do? I look at it this way, the realtor is telling us ‘you can’t do this. You need to sell it to someone to keep it farm ground’ and yet they’re selling the farm ground to build a house on.”
The meeting is one of three township meetings Samsung will attend. Reps will be at the regular Taylor and Claibourne township meetings later this month. There will also be two public information meetings, one on Nov. 1 and one on Nov. 8.